Miraculous Weasel
by Tang Ri Shan
Summary: Alice Bourgeois, the twin sister of Chloe, grew up in New York City with her mother. But shortly after she is sent to live with her father and sister in Paris, she comes across the Weasel Miraculous, which grants her the power of transformation. She becomes the superheroine Ermine to help Ladybug and Chat Noir protect Paris, but her mission soon becomes much more...'complicated'
1. Chapter 1

Miraculous Weasel CH 1: **Ermine**

I heard my alarm clock buzz and groaned as I woke up. Today was the first day of my new school. After a minute, I gave up trying to ignore the alarm and got out of bed.

After switching off the alarm and making my bed, I took a quick shower and donned the outfit I had chosen, black jeans, a white long-sleeved shirt with a black heart on it under a gray jacket and matching grey sneakers with white laces. I had always thought that grey, black, and white were my best colors, as they tended to match my mood a lot.

My name is Alice Bourgeois, daughter of Audrey Bourgeios, one of the world's best-known fashion critics. To say my life was glamorous, would be completely correct. To say it was enjoyable, would be, completely incorrect. Despite being rich, and popular, my life always felt empty and alone. I blame my mother. We never really got along as I was growing up. Oh sure, she _tried_ to make me feel loved, giving me the finest dresses and jewelry money could buy, and making sure everyone in New York City knew who I was and treated me with respect. But that was only in public, or when the cameras were running. In private, or in 'our' home, she barely even looked at me, except when I got in trouble. Which was how I wound up here. A recent 'incident' (that I refuse to speak of) cause my mother to decide that we needed some time apart, so she shipped me off to stay with my father Andre, hotel owner, and the mayor of Paris. Before now I had only seen my dad during the holidays, and he seemed like a nice guy. I was _really_ hoping I wouldn't pick up the same kind of crowd here in Paris that I had in New York.

After tying my hair down in a low ponytail, I left my room to look for my family, only to find Jean, my new butler, standing outside the door waiting for me.

"Good morning, Madmoiselle" He said, bowing.

"Um… Alice is fine" I smiled at him. "Have you seen my family?"

"They are currently eating downstairs at the Bourgoise family table. Shall I bring you to them?"

"That would be great, thanks" My smile widened as Jean lead me down the hall to the elevator.

A few moments later found me sitting at the table eating a breakfast of fruit, baguettes, and milk. My father was there, as was my twin sister Chloe, but they were both buried in the newspaper and smartphone respectively.

There was also another girl at the table who I did not know. She had orange hair, green eyes, and wore glasses and a purple vest and blue shorts. She kept looking at me funny.

Finally, I met her gaze and gave her a small smile. "I'm sorry, I don't think we've officially met yet"

"Oh, that's okay" The girl spoke. "'I'm Sabrina Raincomprix, Chloe's best friend."

"I'm Alice Bourgeois, Chloe's sister" I smiled at Sabrina.

"Sister?" Sabrina's eyes widened. "Chloe! You never told me you had a sister!"

Chloe looked up from her phone and snorted "That's because, as far as I'm concerned, I don't! And if you want to keep being my 'best friend' I'd better not catch you talking to that girl again, got it?" She snapped.

Sabrina flinched before nodded, shooting me an apologetic expression.

I smiled and shrugged. I was used to harsh tones. I had practically grown up around them. Chloe and I were born only minutes apart, but she had always acted like I was invisible whenever we had met. That was fine by me. Chloe's behavior was a painful reminder of what my mother was really like, and the less I interacted with her, the better.

My father looked up from his paper and glanced at his watch. "Girls, it's almost time for school. I'll have the limo drop you off on my way to work"

"Yes Daddy" Chloe said without looking up.

"Yes Dad" I said, making sure my backpack was still leaning against the chair.

After Chloe had gotten her bag from upstairs, or in reality making her 'best friend' run up to get it, the four of us got into a limousine and drove to the College Francis Dupont, my new school.

As soon as I saw the school building, I felt a small smile cross my face. The building looked nice; three stories tall, tan with a blue cobblestone roof. It looked…comfortable.

The limo pulled up in front of the school and I made to open the door, but my father stopped me.

"Alice, since you are a newcomer to our city, I want you to stay close to Chloe for the first few days, alright?"

"WHAT?" Chloe screeched, looking up from her phone.

"I mean it" My father said firmly. "Your mother trusts me with Alice's safety, and the last thing I want is to disappoint her".

Chloe didn't answer, but she shot me a murderous look.

I didn't feel too happy about the arrangement either, but I felt that arguing wasn't going to help, so I simply nodded and said "Yes dad", before getting out of the limo.

No sooner was I out of the limo when Chloe barged past me, knocking me aside. As I fumbled to regain my balance, I saw an older man with deep tanned skin and salt-and-pepper hair walking along the edge of the sidewalk. As I watched, the man suddenly stumbled and fell rather heavily to his knees. Something flew out of his hands and disappeared into the drain in the street.

"Oh no!" Almost without thinking, I rushed to the man's side and helped him up. "Are you alright sir?"

"Yes, thank you" The man's voice was deep and calm, and his face crinkled like leather as he smiled warmly at me. "I am just… oh dear" The man's gaze fell to his hands and his smile faded rapidly.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"The box I was holding, it is gone!" The man looked around wildly. "Where is it?"

"Um…I think I saw it go in there" I pointed to the drain.

"Oh dear" The man looked sad. "That box contained a present I was going to give ot my sister. I had just purchased it, and I saved up a lot of money for it"

My heart went out to the man. "Well...maybe it didn't fall through" I suggested, setting down my bag and kneeling over the drain. To my surprise, I spotted a small brown box nestled under the grating that covered the drain. It appeared to be stuck on a tiny ledge.

"Wait, I think I see it!" I knelt lower and tried to grab it. It took a big of careful twisting, but after a few tries I felt my fingers brush the box. "Got it!" I cried triumphantly as I carefully pulled the box back through the grating and got to my feet.

"Oh, thank you, young lady" The man praised me as I handed the box back to him. "I think you may have just saved the day!"

I felt a blush come to my cheeks. "Oh really, it was nothing. It was the least I could do. I'm just glad you got it back"

The man smiled at me. "Modest and humble. You truly are a hero, my dear"

Now I _really_ blushed "Well…I don't know about _that_…" I stammered.

"Alice! Are you coming or not?" Chloe's loud voice made me look up. My sister was standing at the top of the school stairs, Sabrina next to her, glaring at me.

"Yes Chloe, I'm coming!" I shouted back before turning back to the man. "I've gotta go. Take care sir!" I said before rushing back to him.

"Thank you my dear, and you as well!" I heard him call after me as I raced up the steps and caught up with Chloe. My sister snorted and kept walking without speaking to me. Sabrina gave me a small smile and a pat on the shoulder as she followed. I smiled back at her, but the smile faded when Sabrina turned her back.

Silently, I followed Chloe and Sabrina to our classroom. As I entered, I heard the teacher call someone.

"Nino, why don't you come sit in the front row this year?"

I looked up to see a kid waring blue with a red baseball cap and orange headphones groan, get up reluctantly from the back row, and slouch forwards to the front row.

"Marinette Dupain-Cheng!" I looked back around to see Chloe was now talking to an Asian-looking girl with blue-black hair seated in the second row.

"Here we go again" I heard the girl, Marinette, mutter.

"That's _MY_ seat!" Chloe demanded.

Marinette looked a little confused. "But Chloe, this has always been my seat"

"Not anymore!" Sabrina said, scooting into the row next to Marinette. "New school, new year, new seats"

"So why don't you go sit beside that new girl over there?" Chloe pointed to the front row closest to the windows, where a brown-haired girl was texting on her phone. The girl, haring herself mentioned, looked up and glared at Chloe through her black glasses.

When Marinette didn't move, Chloe sighed and tried again. "Listen, Adrien is arriving today, and since _that's_ going to be his seat" Chloe pointed to the seat next to Nino and in front of Marinette "_This_ is going to be _my_ seat, got it?" She got in Marinette's face during the last words, making the girl jump a little.

"Um…who's Adrien?" Marinette asked.

Chloe and Sabrina burst out laughing. "Can you believe this girl doesn't know who Adrien is?" Chloe chortled. "Seriously, what rock have you been living under?"

"He's only a famous model" Sabrina said smugly.

"And I am his best friend. He adores me" Chloe boasted. I sighed and rolled my eyes, but she ignored me "Now go on! Move!"

"Hey!" I yelped as the copper-haired girl with glasses suddenly marched up to Chloe, nearly knocking me down in the process. "Who elected _you_ Queen of Seats?" She snapped, crossing her arms.

"Ohh, look Sabrina, we've got a little do-gooder in our class this year!" Chloe said mockingly. "What are you gonna do, super noobie? Shoot laser beams at me with your glasses?"

"Wouldn't you like to know" The girl snarled, before reaching over to grab Marinette's hand. "Come on" I watched as the girl pulled Marinette to her feet and over to where she was sitting.

In the process, Marinette walked right into me, causing her to trip and drop what appeared to be a bunch of cookies on the ground.

"Sorry! Sorry! Sorry!" Marinette squealed as she quickly picked up the box and scurried to sit next to Alya.

"It's okay" I said, smiling at her, but the smile faded as Alya gave me a suspicious look.

Sighing, I moved up to join Chloe at the second row, but as I approached, she sneered and shook her head. "Sorry, only two per row. That's the rules, right Sabrina?"

"That's right" Sabrina nodded.

"Okay then" I consented and looked around for a free seat. I spotted two near the back of the room and climbed up the aisle towards them.

As I approached the first free seat, the other occupant, a large, bulky boy with short black hair scowled at me, making it clear he didn't want me sitting with him. The other empty seat, at the very back, was next to another boy, this one with fiery red hair, who was reading a book.

Nodding to the large boy, I quickly made my way to the back of the room and scooted in next to the red-haired boy. He looked up at my approach and his one visible eye widened briefly, then quickly returned to his book.

Ignoring him, I sat down just as the teacher spoke up. "Alright, has everyone found a seat?"

There was a general murmur of affirmativeness as I settled down and pulled out my homework planner and a red binder. I tended to color-code my classes to make it easier to sort things.

"For those of you who don't yet know, I'm Miss Bustier, I'll be your teacher this year". The teacher wrote her name on the board behind her.

As Miss Bustier continued talking, I felt a small smile creep onto my face. I'd only just met this teacher, but I could already tell I was going to like her. Tall and fair-skinned with reddish-orange hair, Miss Bustier looked a lot better than many of the teachers I had known in New York City. Her attitude seemed better too. Many of my former teachers had been the strict non-nonsense type who looked like they couldn't crack a smile, even when they wanted to. Miss Bustier seemed different. She seemed, nicer, like she actually _cared_ about what she was doing.

Miss Bustier started by taking role call. Surprisingly, my name was the first one on the list.

"Bourgeois, Alice?"

"Present" I raised my hand, and a low lull of muttering broke out as many of the other students looked, first at me, then at each other, and began muttering to each other.

"_Another Bourgeois? Wasn't one bad enough?"_ I heard one conversation from the two girls across the aisle from where I was sitting. I glanced over to see them whispering to each other, though they broke off when one of them saw me looking. As I looked away, my eye caught the gaze of the boy sitting next to me and I saw his visible eye widen again, but this time in unmistakable fear and suspicion.

_Great, just great!_ I thought sadly as Miss Bustier continued role call. I was afraid this might happen. In New York, my last name had brought me a whole whirlwind of trouble, from people clamoring to be my friend, to people who were angry over what my mother had done and felt like taking it out on me. I had hoped that things would have been different in Paris, but apparently the Bourgeois name was just as infamous on _this_ side of the Atlantic, and not for a good reason, judging by the way the rest of the class had acted.

My depression lasted through most of the class period, though I somehow managed to pay attention to what Miss Bustier was saying and take notes down in my binder. But I felt uneasy, like I was under examination. I could swear that everyone in the class had taken a turn to look at me, mostly with suspicion, as if waiting for me to do something out of line, something mean, like my sister had done.

_Chloe's sister_, I felt my free hand clench into a fist and hid it underneath my desk so no one would notice. Back home, I was just known as Audrey's daughter, now I was just Chloe's sister. It was like no one could truly see who _I_ was, like my face was just some kind of mask.

I was relieved when the bell rang to signal the end of class.

"Remember, for those of you who have PE, Mr. D'argencourt is waiting for you at the stadium. The rest of you can head over to the library for study period"

I gathered my things and stood up to leave.

"KIM!" A sudden shout made me freeze and I saw the big boy sitting in front of me reach over and grab another student by their sweatshirt.

Everyone in the room turned to look at the two.

"Ivan! What is going on?" Miss Bustier demanded from the front of the class.

"It's Kim!" Ivan pointed to the other boy before raising a clenched fist. "I am so gonna…!"

"Ivan! Go to the principal's office, now!" Miss Bustier ordered.

For a moment, Ivan looked like he was going to argue. But eventually, he released Kim, grabbed his backpack, and stalked away angrily. Kim, for his part, looked triumphant as he watched Ivan walk away.

I shook my head softly, Kim struck me as a natural trouble-maker. I'd need to watch myself around him.

The excitement over, the rest of the class filed out. Chloe left without even looking at me. Sabrina shot me a wave as she trailed after Chloe and I nodded back. Sabrina and Chloe had PE next period, while I had study hour.

I slowly made my way to the library, on the third floor of the building. After spending some time familiarizing myself with the shelves, I chose a book that would help me with my homework and looked for a free spot to work. The closest one was at a table partially occupied by Marinette and the girl she had been sitting next to in class. They were looking at something on the girl's phone.

Slowly approaching the table, I cleared my throat. Both girls looked up. Marinette was expressionless, but the new girl's eyes narrowed.

"Mind if I sit here?" I motioned to the empty chair.

"You're Alice Bourgeois, right?" The new girl replied.

"Correct" I nodded.

"You related to Chloe?"

"I'm her sister"

"Really?" Marinette spoke up. "I've known Chloe since kindergarten and she's never mentioned having a sister."

"That's probably because, as far as Chloe's concerned, I don't exist" I replied. "Also, there's the fact that we were raised separately. I grew up in New York City. I've only been in Paris for the last two days"

"Oh" Marinette and the girl exchanged a look. Finally, Marinette looked up at me and a small smile appeared on her face. "Sure, come on and join us"

"Thank you" I smiled gratefully, lowering myself onto the seat.

"But I'm warning you, girl. If you start acting like Chloe, you're outta here" The other girl said firmly.

I met her gaze with a smile. "And that is a warning I will take _very_ seriously, miss…"

For a moment, the girl held my gaze. "Alya. Alya Cesaire" She said finally.

"Cesaire?" I frowned, that name sounded familiar. "Are you related to Marleena Cessare, by any chance?"

Alya's eyes narrowed farther. "My mother" Her tone was guarded.

I nodded and smiled. "And one of the best chefs at the Grand Paris Hotel" I said.

Alya didn't smile back, but her expression appeared to soften a bit.

"And I'm Marinette Dupris-Cheng" Marinette offered me her hand.

"Nice to meet you both" I smiled as I shook both girl's hands.

"So, what's New York City like?" Marinette asked as I began to pull out my homework.

"Oh, it's big, noisy, …and big" I joked, earning a chuckle from Marinette and a small smile from Alya.

"Hey Alya, weren't you just telling me that there was a group of superheroes operating in New York City?" Marinette turned to me and added "Alya's an expert on superheroes"

"Oh, you mean the Guardians?" I spoke up.

"You _know_ them?" Marinette turned to me and Alya seemed to stiffen.

"Personally, no. But I know _of_ them" I said, and Alya appeared to relax. "They're one of the most powerful hero teams in the world, but I'm pretty sure there are others just as powerful elsewhere"

Marinette opened her mouth to comment when suddenly the whole building suddenly seemed to shake. The motion knocked all three of us out of our seats and onto the floor.

"What the heck was that?" I exclaimed over the sounds of screaming and people running.

"Come on!" Alya had helped Marinette to her feet and was now pulling her over towards where a small crowd had gathered around a TV monitor. I followed as someone exclaimed "Did you hear that!"

The monitor screen showed footage from four of the school's security cameras. Three of the cameras showed normal footage, but the fourth…

My eyes widened. The fourth screen showed the street outside the front of the school, but it _also_ showed what looked like a giant made of rock. The crater in the pavement beneath him meant it must have just landed there.

"KIMMMM!" The giant suddenly roared, raising its arms and stomping towards the street.

My brain whirred confusedly. The giant's voice seemed…oddly familiar.

"What's going on?" Marinette exclaimed next to me. "Was that…Ivan's voice?"

My memory suddenly clicked. Ivan, the big kid who sat in front of me?

"It's as if he's been transformed into a supervillain!" Alya looked excited as she pulled out her phone. "GPS, check. Battery, check. I am so outta here!" She dashed for the door.

"Hey! Where are you going?" I called after her.

Alya paused in front of the door. "Where there's a supervillain, there's always a superhero not far behind! No way I'm missing this!" With that, she dashed out of the room.

Marinette and I exchanged a look. "Should we…go after her?"

"Maybe we should…" Marinette glanced back at the monitor. The screen showed Ivan now walking in the street. A car came to a screeching halt mere inches from Ivan, who reached out and grabbed it. Two people jumped out in terror as Ivan picked it up like it was a chair.

"KIIIIIMMMM!" Ivan roared and threw the car at the camera, breaking it and ending the feed.

Marinette and I both winced.

"_Attention all students! Please evacuate the school in a calm, orderly fashion!"_ The principal's voice came over the intercom.

I looked at Marinette again before moving to join the other students heading towards the doors. Her expression mirrored my own confusion.

Upon arriving back at home, I ran into my room and shut the door. Flopping down on the bed, I switched on the giant TV on my wall to monitor what was happening.

Right now, the screen showed my father in the middle of making a statement. "And so, I am advising that all Parisians stay off the streets until this situation is under control"

My father's image was replaced with that of a new announcer.

"As incredible as it seems, it's been confirmed that Paris is being attacked by what appears to be a supervillain. The police have, at this point, been struggling to keep the situation under control" The announcer said, before the screen shifted to show a policeman with a broken arm being interviewed.

"Be confident, that the strong arm of the law will come crashing down on…" The policeman raised his broken arm, only to wince and bring it back down with a pained expression. "…er…I mean the other arm"

"Wow, and I thought things were wild in New York" I sighed, laying back on my bed, only to yelp as I felt something dig into my lower back. "Huh? What the…?" I turned to see a little black box with red markings sitting on the bedsheet behind me.

"What's this doing here?" I pondered as I carefully picked up the box.

I opened the box, and turned away as I was instantly blinded by a bright white light that came from inside of it. Dropping the box and blinking rapidly to adjust my eyes, I looked back to see the light fade away to reveal a…strange creature of sorts. It looked kind of like a small…white weasel, with a large head, curved ears, and a long white tail tipped with black.

I let out a small gasp as the weasel creature woke up and looked at me. For a moment, we just stared at each other.

The creature broke the silence first. "Um…hello" It said in a high-squeaky voice.

"H-hello" I replied, still somewhat in a state of shock. "Who..er…what are you?" I asked, somewhat bluntly.

To my surprise, the creature giggled. "My name is Minkk, and I am a Kwami" She (at least I think it was a she) replied.

"Okay, and what's a kwami?" I asked.

"Kwamis are being that can grant special abilities to people. In my case, I can grant the power of transformation"

"Powers?" I felt my eyes light up. "You mean, you can give me superpowers?"

"Yes!" Minkk seemed pleased. "Powers that you can use to fight against the wicked akumas!"

"Akumas?"

"Akumas are beings that can grant powers, like kwamis" Minkk explained. "But akumas are drawn to negative emotions, like pain, anger and fear. They infect items belonging to the people showing these emotions and take control of them, mutating them into monstrous villains"

"Villians? You mean…like him?" I pointed to the TV screen, which still showed images of the stone giant.

"Exactly. That is Stoneheart, a person who's been infected by an akuma, and it's up to you to help cure him"

"But how?"

"By using your powers. Yours is called 'Animorphix'. It will allow you to transform into a random animal for a period of five minutes. But be careful. Once your five minutes are up, you'll be forced to become human again, and then you'll be forced to transform back into your civilian form in five more minutes."

"But how can I defeat something like Stoneheart in only ten minutes?"

"You need to find where the Akuma is hiding. If you destroy it, you can force the akuma out into the open, so it can be captured. Once you do that, the person will return back to normal."

"Oh man! I've gotta tell my dad about this!" I lunged for my phoen, only for Minkk to appear in front of me.

"No Alice, wait! You can't tell your father about me! You can't tell _anyone_ about me!" she begged.

"But…I can't go up against _that_ by myself!" I motioned to Stoneheart on the TV. "Even with superpowers!"

"You won't be alone. There are other heroes that will be able to help you"

"There are others?" I raised an eyebrow. "Like who?"

"_After wrecking the Shetland Tower, the being now known as Stoneheart is heading towards the Montparnasse Tower. The creature seems to be unstoppable"_ My gaze was drawn back to the TV, which showed Stoneheart moving down a street, with someone on a bicycle tailing him.

"Alya?" I gasped. There was no mistaking that copper-colored hair.

Minkk suddenly appeared in my field of vision. "I know you may have doubts Alice, but you need to trust me. You've already seen the kind of damage Stoneheart can cause. This will only be the beginning unless you can stop him"

I looked at Minkk, then at the screen, and made my decision.

"Okay, what do I do?"

"First, you must put on the Miraculous in the box" Minkk floated over to the box on the floor. I followed her and peered inside.

"A belt?" I pondered as I pulled it out. It was white with a silvery buckle. "Well, at least it's my color." I muse as I threaded the belt through the loops of my jeans. "Okay, now what?" I asked once the belt was on.

"Now say, 'Showtime'"

I raised an eyebrow. "Showtime? That sound like… what the?" I gasped as Minkk suddenly dove right into the buckle, which turned black with five white lines. A white light spread over my entire body, and a few seconds later I was encased in what looked like white fur. I rushed to my mirror.

"Woah!" I was now encased from the neck down in a furry white outfit with black accents on my chest and down my arms and legs. My hair had turned from snowy-blonde to almost pure white, with black tips and I had curved weasel ears sticking out of the top of my head. My eyes had turned electric blue and my face was covered in a mask that stretched from my forehead to under my nose, which was now black. As I marveled in my new outfit, I saw something move behind me and my eyes widened. A long, fluffy-looking white tail with a black tip was moving around behind me.

"Oh. My. Gosh! I have a _tail!"_ I exclaimed, grabbing the appendage, which was looked to be about half my body-length. Even though my new gloves, I could feel how silky soft the fur was. "This is amazing!" I squealed.

A loud _boom_ from outside snapped me out of my excited state. Right, there was work to do! I raced to the window and opened it. I climbed out onto the ledge and make my way up to the roof. My new gloves seemed to grip the wall with enough force to keep me from falling.

Upon reaching the top, I paused and looked around. "Okay, so I can apparently climb well and…" I pause as I noticed something hanging from my belt. Holding it up, I saw it was a small, wand-like device with a series of buttons on it. Pressing one sent a tail of what looks like energy uncoiling from it, almost like… "a whip?" I pondered aloud. My gaze suddenly moved from the whip to the roof of a nearby building. "I wonder" Before I fully understood what I was doing, I was backing up and starting to run. I raced to the edge of the roof, leapt off, and swung my whip in a wide arc. The coil of energy reached out and wrapped itself around the railing of a nearby building. Suddenly, I felt myself being pulled up towards the roof of the next building, which I cleared easily.

"This is awesome!" I cried out as I landed and broke into a sprint without even pausing. Exhibiting a series of parkour moves I didn't even know I was capable of; I soon found myself making great time across the rooftops of Paris, using my whip to help bridge the bigger gaps.

I had just come around a chimney pot when I paused. On the roof across from me was a boy about my age wearing an outfit of what looked like black leather, with black cat ears sticking out of his blonde head. I had a feeling this was one of the other heroes Minkk had been telling me about. As I watched, the boy held up what looked like a metal baton and somehow extended it to cross the width of the street.

I was pondering what to say to him, when the boy looked up and spotted me. His cat-like eyes widened under his black mask and a cheeky grin appeared on his face.

"Well hello there" He said in a cheerful tone. "And who might you be?"

I felt a smug smile cross my face as I leapt down to be on the same level as him. "Depends on who you are"

"I bet you're one off the partners my Kwami told me about" The boy replied, as he stepped onto the baton, which now looked more like a tightrope.

"I'd say, that's a wager you'd win" I replied as the boy started walking towards me on his tightrope-baton. "Looking good on that…stick" I commented.

"Oh yeah, I'm starting to get the hang of this" the boy commented, now halfway across.

At that moment, both of us heard yelling coming from above and looked up to see a person in red-and-black falling towards us.

"Uh oh" I muttered as I watched the figure collide with the cat-boy, knocking him off his stick. I reached for my whip, but paused when I saw that they were both tangled up in a string of some sort, that had become attached to the stick, causing both of them to hang off the ground, swinging back and forth.

"Well, hello there. Nice of you to drop in" I heard the Cat boy say and I rolled my eyes.

"I'm sorry, I didn't do it on purpose" The other figure replied as I leapt down to the street.

"Are you two alright?" I asked as the pair worked themselves free. Upon closer inspection, the figure was a girl, about my age, wearing a red outfit studded with black spots, she looked kind of like a ladybug.

"Yeah, we're fine." The cat boy spoke up first. "So, it looks like the three of us are going to be working together. I'm…Chat Noir. Yeah, Chat Noir. And you two are…?"

"Call me…" I paused, racking my brain for a good name. "Ermine" I said after a minute. "Yeah, like the fur" I added, striking a pose.

"Meow" Cat Noir grinned at me and turned to the other girl, who was struggling to pull her yo-yo free. "And you?"

"I'm Mar…er…Mar…um…" The girl stammered, and gave another sharp yank causing the stick to come free instead. As Chat Noir looked, up, both tools fell on his head.

"Ow!"

"Madly clumsy. I'm so clumsy" The red girl apologized as she and Chat Noir retrieved their items.

No sweat, clumsy girl. I'm learning the ropes too" said Chat Noir.

"We all are." I spoke up, placing a hand on the red girl's shoulder. "Don't worry, you'll get better."

The girl smiled hopefully at me, but a loud crash made us look up. A few blocks away, a skyscraper was collapsing.

"Well, that's not good" I commented.

"Come on" Chat Noir rushed forward and used his stick to pole vault onto a nearby rooftop.

"Hey! Where are you going?" The red girl called.

"To save Paris, right?" Chat Noir called back before he was lost from view.

I rolled my eyes. Chat Noir was enthusiastic, but a tad reckless. I made to follow him, but saw that our third partner hadn't moved. She was looking a bit…unsure of herself.

"Hey? You okay?" I asked.

"I'm…just…not really sure I'm cut out for this" She admitted after a moment.

For a few seconds, I just stood there, then I smiled and reached over to the girl. I placed my hand under her chin and lifted it until she was looking me in the eye.

"You think I don't feel the same way?" I asked.

"What?" The girl looked confused.

"You think you're the only one here who's scared? We've only been heroes for, how long?" I glanced at an imaginary watch. "About ten minutes, and we're already on our way to fight a supervillain who can throw cars around like soccer balls, and who gets bigger and stronger every time someone hits him. You think I'm not scared? I'm _terrified!_"

"Really?" The girl looked surprised. "But you seem so…so calm"

"That's because, in addition to fear, I have something else." I continued, leaning closer to her. "Trust. I trust in myself, and I trust in my team, which includes you" I poked the girl's arm. "I trust that I am making the right decision and I trust that everything will work itself out in the end, because in the end, that's all a hero can do. They trust themselves enough to make a leap of blind faith." I looked the girl squarely in the eye. "Do you trust yourself enough to make the leap?"

Before the girl could answer, I backed away, unsnapped my whip and lassoed the top of a nearby building. I nodded at the girl before leaping away, leaving her to her thoughts.

A minute later, I caught up with Chat Noir as he leapt from rooftop to rooftop.

"Chat Noir? Any sign of Stoneheart?" I yelled as I came even with him.

"I think he's heading to the stadium!" He called back before looking around. "Where's our teammate?"

"She's coming" I smiled at him, but inside my heart was fluttering nervously. Pep talks weren't really my thing.

Soon we reached the stadium. Stoneheart was already there, chasing down Kim.

"Let's do this!" Chat Noir took point, jumping up and extending his stick so that one end slammed into the ground between Stoneheart and Kim, causing the former to pause and the latter to jump.

Chat Noir and I landed in between the two and I turned to Kim, who was staring at us. "Keep running!" I growled. Kim nodded and complied.

"Hey!" I turned as Chat Noir addressed Stoneheart. "It's not nice to pick on people smaller than you!"

"I guess you're talking about yourself" Stoneheart growled back and lunged for us.

Chat Noir and I jumped and dodged as Stoneheart swung wildly again and again.

After dodging one blow, Chat Noir finally saw an opening and jumped high, bringing his stick slamming down on Stoneheart's head before jumping away.

As I rushed over to join him, Stoneheart grew even bigger before turning to face us. He slammed his foot down, making the whole stadium shake.

"Better not do that again" I commented.

"Noted." Chat Noir agreed before raising his voice. "Where are you, other partner?!"

"Give her time! She'll come!" I soothed as Stoneheart began swatting at us, trying to platen us into the ground.

"Are you sure?" Chat Noir sounded uncertain.

"Of course, I'm sure!" Deep down I wasn't so sure, but I felt it was better to fake that I was. "I trust in my team! Do you?"

Chat Noir paused for a moment, then nodded. "Yes. Yes, I do!"

We both looked up and gasped as Stoneheart suddenly ripped up a soccer goal and threw it at us. Chat Noir and I both dodged but as my eyes followed the net's progress through the air, I suddenly saw Alya kneeling in one of the stadium entrances, and right in the path of the runaway goal!

Gasping, I began to run towards Alya, but I saw Chat Noir's stick zip past me and extend across the entrance, catching the goal before it could crush Alya and bounce it off to land a few feet away.

I turned to congratulate Chat Noir, but my relief turned to fear as I saw Stoneheart grab Chat with his left hand.

As I saw Chat Noir writhe in Stoneheart's grip, something in me snapped. Growling, I rushed towards Stoneheart, then jumped up high, a battle cry erupting from my lips.

Stoneheart saw me coming, growled, and lashed out with his right fist. The blow caught me on the jaw, and for a few seconds I was seeing stars. I felt so stunned that I didn't realize I was flying, before the hard impact of my body hitting the stadium field reminded me.

I could hear Ayla yelling something, but my head was pounding so hard I couldn't tell what it was. As I struggled to get up, another voice, loud and clear, cut through the haze of pain in my head.

"Anima cruelty? How shameful!" I look up to see the ladybug girl yanking the string of her yo-yo. I look over to see Stoneheart suddenly fall backwards. His fist opened and Chat Noir went flying into the opposite goal.

"I see you made the leap" I commented as I slowly got to my feet.

"Yeah, sorry it took so long." The girl replied. "Are you okay?"

"I'll live" I said, shaking away the stars in my vision before we raced over to Chat Noir.

"Are you alright, Chat Noir?" I asked as Chat Noir, having freed himself from the net, stood up and dusted himself up.

"Yeah, you?"

"I'm good" I nodded

"Great, now that we're all together, let's kick his rocky behind!" Chat Noir started to run towards Stoneheart.

I sighed and grabbed the belt that served as his tail. I was pretty sure that, based on what we had seen earlier, a head-to-head conflict was _not_ the best course of action.

"Wait!" the ladybug girl spoke up. "Haven't you noticed that he gets bigger and stronger with every attack?"

"Yeah, we _did_ notice that" I gave Chat Noir a look, and he grinned sheepishly.

"We have to do something different" the Ladybug girl pondered.

"Different how?" Chat Noir asked as I let go of his tail.

"Um… I don't know" The girl looked thoughtful.

"Okay then, let's use our powers!" Chat Noir said eagerly before yelling "CATACLYSM!" The ring on his finger glowed and his entire right hand became charged with energy. Little black orbs began dancing around it.

"Apparently I destroy everything that I touch" Chat Noir explained with a smirk.

"I don't need a superpower to do that" The girl mumbled.

Chat Noir reached for the post of the soccer goal. Realizing what he was about to do, I shouted "No, don't do that!" But it was too late. Chat Noir touched the pole, and the entire goal appeared to rust and collapse into dust.

Chat Noir seemed even more excited now. "Cool! It's just you and me now" He charged at Stoneheart. "Time to rumble, soon-to-be rubble!"

"Chat Noir, wait!" Me and the girl both yelled. I unsnapped my whip, planning to lasso him back to us, but before I could, Chat Noir took a running leap, landed in front of Stoneheart and placed his hand on the giant's foot.

Nothing happened. He tried again. Still nothing.

"Uh oh. I guess I only get one shot to use my powers" Chat Noir whimpered as Stoneheart growled at him. He waved innocently, but Stoneheart kicked him back over to us.

"And now you only have five minutes before you transform back. Didn't your kwami explain anything to you?" The Ladybug girl scolded as I helped Chat Noir get to his feet.

"I guess I was a little excited about my new life" Chat Noir confessed, placing his hands behind his head.

"Why do boys always leap _before_ they look?" I groaned and shook my head.

"Hey!"

"Well…up to us then." The girl shouted "LUCKY CHARM!" before throwing her yo-yo up into the air. A swarm of ladybugs flew out of it and swirled around before forming what appeared to be a red-and-black jumpsuit.

"Okay…" I mused as the girl caught her new tool. I had no idea what the girl was planning to do with it.

"Wow, _super_ power" Chat Noir said sarcastically.

"My kwami said I had to break the object where the whatchamacallit, the akuma, is hiding" the girl mused.

"Well, he's made entirely of stone" Chat Noir commented as Stoneheart began moving towards us.

"Yeah, but there's nothing else on him." I added. "And my kwami told me that akumas can't possess an actual person, so where could it be?"

"Wait, look at his right hand. It's still closed. He's never opened it" the girl pointed, then her eyes widened. "That's it! It's like the Russian nesting dolls. The object isn't on him, it's hidden in his fist!"

"Yeah, that makes sense!" I nodded.

"So, what's the plan for getting to it?" Chat Noir asked.

I frowned thoughtfully. That was a good question. Both Chat Noir and Ladybug had already used their superpowers. I hadn't, but I wasn't sure how mine would be effective.

"This" I looked up at the girls' words to see that she had tied knots in the sleeves and legs of the jumpsuit and had had stuck a water hose into the neck of the suit, closing it off.

"Um…I'm afraid I don't follow" I admitted.

"It's quite simple really" the girl said, wrapping her yo-yo around Chat Noir's legs. "Don't resist, trust me!"

"This girl's crazy!" Chat Noir yelled as he was yanked off his feet and spun around before being launched at Stoneheart.

"Okay, what now? I asked as Stoneheart grabbed Chat Noir in his left hand.

"Now you need to use _your_ powers!" The girl said.

"Um…Okay" I still wasn't sure what the girl was planning. But I figured it was worth a shot. "ANIMORPHIX!" I cried out. My belt buckle glowed and I was cocooned in a halo of light. When the light faded, I had transformed into a large white elephant.

"Woah! That's incredible!" The girl's eyes widened as I reared up, raised my new trunk and let out a loud trumpet.

"Apparently _I_ can transform into animals" I said as I fell back on all fours. Even though I was now an elephant, I was still capable of human speech.

"Okay, now take this!" She handed me the wetsuit, "And attack Stoneheart!"

"What?" I asked as I grabbed the wetsuit with my trunk, wondering if I had heard correctly.

"You heard me! You need to attack him head on!" The girl instructed, punching one hand with the other fist.

"Are you sure?" I asked as the girl launched her yo-yo towards the roof of the stadium.

The girl looked me square in the eye. "I'm sure. Do you trust me?"

I looked her back in the eyes. As far as I could tell, the doubt and uncertainty that I had seen earlier was completely gone. The girl seemed…different now. More certain. Maybe she _did_ know what she was doing. "Yes' I nodded.

"Then go" Ladybug said before pulling on her yo-yo string and launching herself away.

I snorted and turned to Stoneheart. "Hey Stoneheart, how about you pick on someone my own size! Chaaaaarge!" With a loud cry I ran at Stoneheart as fast as I could in elephant form, my trunk holding the jumpsuit stretched out in front of me.

"What are you doing?" Char Noir's eyes widened as I got closer.

"Improvising!" I yelled back. What Ladybug was thinking, I still had no idea, but I figured that if I rammed him hard enough, he might release Chat Noir.

Stoneheart growled as he watched me approach. Suddenly his right fist opened up. He reached out, and grabbed the jumpsuit, _and_ my elephant trunk!

"Yeow!" I yelped as pain shot through my nose. "By dose! He's skwueething by dose!" I cried out, my words coming out funny-sounding because Stoneheart was now squeezing my trunk.

"Ha! Ha! You sound funny!" Stoneheart chuckled as I cried out in pain and sank to my knees.

"Hang on!" I heard the girl yell, followed by the unmistakable sound of water. I looked down to see water traveling through the hose connected to the jumpsuit now clenched inside Stoneheart's fist. The jumpsuit expanded as water filled it, forcing him to open his hand, releasing me. I staggered backwards, shaking my head as my trunk started aching.

"Quick, look around for the akumatized object! It should be close to you!" the girl called over from where she was turning the handle on a tap at the other end of the hose. Ignoring the throbbing pain in my trunk, I began looking around.

"I see it!" Chat Noir suddenly shouted. "It's on your left!"

I looked to my left and saw what looked like a purple rock lying nearby. "Aha!" I cried triumphantly before rearing up on my hind legs and bringing my front foot crashing down on the object, crushing it. A black-and-purple butterfly appeared and quickly flew away.

Stoneheart was suddenly covered in purple smoke, which caused the stones composing him to break apart. Chat Noir yelped as he fell to the ground. Seconds later the stones seemed to evaporate, leaving behind a dazed-looking Ivan laying on the ground.

As the girl ran over to us, my body was suddenly haloed in white light and I shifted back into human form. "Are you okay?" The girl asked, looking apologetic.

"I'll live" I said, rubbing my nose, which was still a little sore. "But next time, warn me"

"heh heh, sorry" the girl chuckled sheepishly.

We looked around as Ivan groaned and looked around. "What's going on? What am I doing here?"

"Wow! That was amazing!" Chat Noir crowed as he dashed over to where we were standing. "You were incredible, taking on Stoneheart like that!" He said to me before turning to our third member "And you were great too miss…uh…bug lady! You did it! You saved Paris!"

"_We_ did it" The girl corrected Chat Noir. "As a team!"

"As a _superhero_ team" I held out my fist.

"Pound it!" We exchanged a three-way fist-bump.

Suddenly Chat Noir's ring started beeping and flashing.

"You should get going. We can clean things up here" I told him.

"She's right. Our abilities must remain a secret, after all" the girl added.

"Farewell, Miladies. Let's do this again soon, okay?" Chat Noir bowed before taking off.

"'Miladies'"? I repeated raising an eyebrow.

The girl giggled. "Not too soon, I hope"

As I shook my head in disbelief, a flash of purple caught my eye and I looked down to see a small cloud of purple mist fizzing away, revealing a piece of paper rolled up into a ball. I picked up the paper and smoothed it out.

My eyes widened when I saw what was on it. "Hey, look at this" I held the paper to the ladybug girl, who took it and read it aloud.

"'You haven't even got the guts to tell Mylene you love her, wuss'. Awww!"

"Who wrote this?" I wondered.

"Kim wrote it" Ivan spoke up. He was now sitting up, gazing at the ground. "He's always making fun of me!"

_So that's what Ivan had been so angry about!_ I remembered when Ivan had threatened to hit Kim in class earlier. I exchanged a quick glance with the ladybug girl, who smiled, and we both walked over to Ivan.

"You know, you shouldn't get so bent out of shape over something like this" I said, placing a hand on Ivan's shoulder.

"That's right, Ivan" the girl placed her hand on Ivan's other shoulder. "There's no shame in admitting that you love someone"

"Hey, um…how'd you know my name, miss?" Ivan asked.

I saw a panicked look on the girl's face and decided to answer for her.

"Of course, we know who you are, Ivan" I purred as I got to my feet. "We know everyone in Paris. It's one of the requirements of being a superhero. You need to know the names of the people who you might end up saving" Looking at my partner, I winked at her. "Am I right, partner?"

The girl caught on quickly and smiled. "I couldn't have said it better myself, partner" she said cockily as she got to her feet as well.

"Uncanny! Amazing! Spectacular!" We all turned to see Alya filming us on her phone. "Are you three going to be protecting Paris from now on? Where did you get your powers? Did you get stung by a radioactive ladybug? Did you get bitten by a mutated weasel?" She demanded as I rolled my eyes at her enthusiasm.

As the two of us turned to leave, Alya's ranting continued. "Oh, I've got so many questions to ask you miss… er…"

I nudged the girl who turned to face Alya.

"Um…Ladybug. Call me Ladybug" She said before lassoing the stadium roof with her yo-yo. She nodded and smiled at me before flying away on her yo-yo string.

"Ladybug, super awesome!" Alya exclaimed before turning to me. "And you?"

"Well, first off, in case you didn't hear, the fellow in black who was here earlier, is called Chat Noir. As for me…" I paused and ran my fingers through my long white hair, making it flare out dramatically. "…you can call me Ermine" I smiled at the camera as I used my whip to grab onto the roof as Ladybug had. "See you around!" I called back as I jumped up and pulled myself up to the stadium roof and began my trek back home.

Arriving back at the hotel, I quickly climbed in through the window just as I transformed back into Alice. Minkk appeared in the air before me, but soon settled onto my bed, groaning loudly.

I was immediately at her side. "Minkk, what's wrong?"

"Food! I need…food!" Minkk sighed theatrically and I chuckled as I realized she was playing with me.

"Oh, but of course Minkk." I said dramatically, playing along. "I can only imagine how long it's been since you last had a _proper_ meal!"

Minkk giggled, then threw her head back and moaned. "Oh, its true! _It's true!_ It's been so long that I…I…I've forgotten what food even tastes like!"

I gave a loud theatrical gasp of horror. "Oh, you poor thing!" I wailed and flung myself down in front of her. "Please forgive this lowly girl for not realizing your needs sooner. Oh, how will I _ever_ prove myself mature and responsible enough to care for a kwami?"

For a moment, I just lay there, then I looked up to see Minkk gazing at me. She giggled. I giggled, then we both burst out laughing.

"Seriously though, I can get you something to eat easily. What do you want?" I asked after we had stopped.

"Well, all kwamis have their preferences. But in my case, anything sweet will be fine. What I'd _really_ like is chocolate cake or something like that, if you have it"

"Hmmm" I thought for a moment. "Would brownies work?" I asked as something in my memory clicked.

Minkk looked confused. "What is a brownie?"

I chuckled as I reached for the room-service phone. "Oh, you just wait, you'll _love_ them." I said as I dialed a number.

"Yes?" A female voice answered a minute later.

"Mrs. Cesare, do you have any brownies left over from that event you were catering to earlier today?" I asked.

"um…yes, I still have a few" The woman said a minute later.

"Could you send them up to my room, please?"

"Certainly, Miss Alice"

"Thanks" I hung up and switched on the TV in my room to see if our battle had made the news. To my delight, Alya's footage was being broadcast on the national news.

_"And there you have it, viewers." _Said the announcer._ "Thanks to this amateur footage, Paris now knows the identities of its new superheroes."_

The screen shifted to show my father standing in front of City Hall, with a proud smile on his face.

_"I am pleased to announce that the city will be planning a great celebration in honor of our city's newest protectors, Ladybug, Chat Noir, and Ermine."_ He said, and I felt a big smile spread across my face. It felt _so_ good to hear my father praise me like that, even if he didn't actually know it was _me_ he was praising.

A minute later, there was a knock on my door. I opened it to find Jean standing there with a tray.

"Your brownies, Miss Alice" He said, handing the tray to me.

"Sweet! Thank you, Jean" I smiled at him and closed the door.

Minkk flew out of hiding as I set the tray on my bed. "Ooooh, these look yummy!"

"Well, I'd say we've earned a little treat, eh?" I said, grabbing one. "So, let's dig in!"

As we munched on the brownies, a report on the TV attracted our attention.

_"Just as Paris is about to celebrate the appearance of our three new superheroes, Lady Bug, Ermine, and Chat Noir, a new wave of panic is sweeping the capital, as dozens of people are mysteriously transformed into stone monsters. It's simply unbelievable."_

I felt my jaw drop in horror as I witnessed multiple people transform into duplicates of Stoneheart when a black butterfly landed on each of them.

_"So far, the transformed individuals have exhibited no movement, being still as statues. The police are perplexed as to what will happen to them. Will they eventually come to life or remain frozen in time forever?"_

"Uh…Minkk? What's going on? I thought Stoneheart had been taken care of" I turned to my kwami, who was munching and watching at the same time.

Minkk turned to look at me. "Did you capture the Akuma?" She asked.

My eyes widened suddenly as I remembered the black butterfly that had flown away from the battle scene. That must have been the akuma!

"Oops" I mused, then frowned. "But, wait a minute! There was only one akuma affecting Ivan, where did all these other ones come from?"

"Akumas can multiply, which is why they need to be captured." Minkk explained. "As long as the one that infected Ivan is still out there, if Ivan's emotions become negative again, the akuma could turn him back into Stoneheart. If that happens, he could take command of these other stone beings and make them into his own personal army."

"Yikes!" I winced, rubbing my nose. "One of those things was bad enough, but a whole army?" I paled at the thought of what an army of Stonehearts could do to Paris. "We have to capture that akuma!"

To my surprise, Minkk shook her head. "You wouldn't be able to, without Ladybug there."

"Why?"

"Ladybug's the only one who can capture akumas and repair the damage caused by supervillains" Minkk said.

I felt alarm flicker across my face. "Is there _anything_ Chat Noir and I can do on our own?"

"No" Minkk shook her head again. "Except fight against Stoneheart and his minions if and when they come alive."

My mind whirring, I slowly moved the brownie tray to my bedside table, then plopped down on my bed with a loud sigh. "Ladybug" I muttered under my breath as Minkk and I looked at the still-running news broadcast. "I hope you're watching this. Looks like our problems have only just started"

* * *

**And Cut! **

**I've been a fan of the Miraculous Ladybug series since it first came out, and I figured it was about time I try my hand at writing my own. As of now, I have no intention of finishing this series, but if you readers would like me to, I can definitely make an effort. **

**My series will most likely follow the genuine plot of the TV series, with a few changes, some minor and some major. You'll see them as the series progresses. This first chapter is just to get it off the ground. **

**Let me know what you think! **

**Until next time! **


	2. Chapter 2

Miraculous Weasel CH 2: **Stoneheart**

_ "The stone beings are scattered all over Paris and, for the time being, show no signs of movement. Police are cordoning off the areas where the transformations have occurred"_ The news report I was watching showed police working to set up fences and barriers around the numerous stone beings across the city.

The screen shifted to show my father, the mayor of Paris. "_I pledge to you; we will not stop until we find a way to get these people back to their normal selves!"_ My father declared, before hanging his head. _"But alas, as of now, I confess we have not made much headway on that"_

My heart ached for my father as the screen shifted back to the news announcer. It must be hard for him, having to deal with superheroes and supervillains. This was unfamiliar territory for him. It wasn't exactly a concept that the political and business arenas had prepared him for.

"_Paris is now relying on its new guardian angels, Ladybug, Ermine, and Chat Noir to save us. The lives of the petrified people, and perhaps even the lives of everyone in the city, now depend on them"_

Having heard enough, I switched off the news report and flopped back onto my bed with a groan.

Minkk, my kwami, floated over from the nightstand, where she had been watching the report. "Don't be upset Alice, it was only your first time. You'll get better at this" She said soothingly.

"I'm not upset about what's happened, Minkk. I'm upset that I can't _do_ anything about what's happened!" I groaned, pounding my mattress in frustration.

Needless to say, my first day of being a superhero had _not_ been one for the highlight reel. Upon discovering Minkk yesterday, I had transformed for the first time into Ermine, a weasel-themed superheroine with the power of transformation, and had assisted two other superheroes, Ladybug and Chat Noir, in defeating Ivan, a boy from my class who had been infected by an akuma, which had turned him into a rock-bodied monster called Stoneheart. The three of us had managed to separate Ivan from the akuma that was controlling him and revert the boy back to normal, but we had forgotten that his akuma needed to be captured. The blasted thing had escaped us and now it was apparently multiplying, infecting random people throughout Paris and turning them into Stoneheart copies.

What _really_ annoyed me was that apparently only Ladybug had the ability to capture and purify akumas, as well as repair any damage that akumatized people caused. Unfortunately, the last time I had seen Ladybug, she had been suffering from a serious lack of confidence. She had eventually managed to overcome it, after I had given her a pep talk, but I had a strong feeling that her newfound confidence would be shaken by what was happening now. However, since I didn't know who Ladybug really was, this meant there was precious little I could do except keep vigil over Ivan to make sure he didn't become Stoneheart again and just…wait for Ladybug to get her confidence back.

Fortunately, keeping tabs on Ivan wouldn't be too hard, seeing as he sat in front of me in class. Keeping him pacified however, would be a lot harder. Ivan struck me as a sensitive spirit, who was quick to anger. He'd threatened to punch another boy just because the boy had given him a teasing note the other day. According to Minkk, if Ivan got angry again, and turned back into Stoneheart, he could bring the other stone beings to life to serve as his army. I shuddered, and my nose ached, remembering how much damage Ivan had done last time. _One_ Stoneheart had been bad enough, Paris _did not_ need an entire army of those things running around.

My thoughts were suddenly interrupted by a knock on my bedroom door. When Minkk had dove out of sight, I called out "Come in!"

The door opened to reveal Jean, the butler in charge caring for me. "Miss Alice, breakfast is ready downstairs. Your sister and her friend are already there." He said with a bow.

"Thank you, Jean. I'll be down in a minute" I smiled at him. He bowed again and left.

Rising from my bed, I gathered the materials I would need for school and swept them into my shoulder bag.

Minkk floated over from where she had been hiding. "Don't forget to save me some breakfast, okay?" She begged, giving me big puppy-dog eyes, which looked funny on a weasel.

I giggled at the sight. "I won't forget. Come on" I motioned to my shoulder bag. Minkk dove into a small compartment that was attached to the strap, and I sipped it up just enough to hide her, but open enough to help her breathe and watch what was happening, and left the room.

I took the elevator down to the main floor of the hotel, where the rest of my family was gathered around the main table in the hotel restaurant.

"Good morning" I said as I joined them. My twin sister, Chloe, ignored me and continued examining her nails. Her friend Sabrina shot me a smile when Chloe wasn't looking. I smiled back, but the smile faded when I saw my father. He was muttering to himself as he cut up his eggs and buttered his croissant, he looked nervous.

"Daddy?" I finally said aloud, causing him to look up. "Are you okay?"

A small smile crossed his face. "Oh yes Alice, I'm alright. I guess I'm just worried about what's been happening."

"You mean about those stone-beings?" I asked. "Have you made any progress in curing them?"

My father shook his head. "I'm afraid not" He admitted. "I've been in contact with the best scientists in the city, but none of them have any idea how this could have happened, let alone how to cure them. All of Paris is demanding answers, but we have none to give them. This is a nightmare!" I bit my lip at the look of stress on his face. I wanted to badly just to come out and tell him what I knew, but I knew that wasn't an option.

"I don't understand why those darn superheroes don't just hurry up and use their powers to put everything back to normal" Chloe snorted.

"I don't think superpowers work that way, Chloe" I said, turning to her. "Even superheroes have limits to what they can do"

Chloe scoffed. "Well then, they're not really _super_, are they?"

I frowned at Chloe, but deep down, I wondered if maybe she had a point. If we really _were_ superheroes, maybe Chat Noir and I would have figured out a way to cure the affected people ourselves by now without needing to rely on Ladybug, or at least we could have found Ladybug and convinced her to help us come up with a way to free them.

"Daddy, has there been any word from Ladybug, Chat Noir, or Ermine?" I turn back to my father.

My father shook his head. "No, I've issued a city-wide bulletin asking the three heroes to contact us with any information they may have about the affected people, but none of them have answered."

"Probably because they don't know what to do and are too embarrassed to show themselves" Chloe smirked as she painted her nails. "Some heroes!"

I grit my teeth to keep from snapping back at Chloe. I didn't want to admit it, but maybe Chloe was right. Maybe the three of us weren't cut out for this hero thing.

_No!_ I shook my head fiercely. I couldn't start thinking that way! If the three of us lost hope, then it wouldn't be long before all of Paris followed suit. I was _not_ going to let that happen, especially after all the happiness I had recently found here. I had _true_ friends, hopefully, a family who actually loved me, sort of, and I was living in one of the most beautiful cities in the world! I had gotten a shot at living the kind of life I had always wanted to live, with no pretend friends, no overbearing parents, and no false promises. I was _not_ going to let it go to waste! I _had_ to find Ladybug and give her another pep talk! Hey, it had worked once before yesterday, so here's hoping it would do the job again. The question was, how to find her? I spent the rest of breakfast wracking my brain, trying to figure out how to do just that.

I was still thinking a half-hour later, when our limo had dropped the three of us off at school. Chloe and Sabrina had headed right in, but I lingered by the front door, waiting for my friends Marinette and Alya. At least, I hoped they were my friends. We seemed to hit it off okay yesterday, but our bonding session had been interrupted by Ivan's transformation. Maybe they had some ideas on how to find Ladybug now. Alya in particular, seemed like the kind of person who knew all about superheroes, including how to find them.

Finally, I saw the two girls meet in front of the school and walk towards me.

"Marinette! Alya!" I called, waving at them.

Both girls looked up. "Hi Alice!" Marinette waved back.

"Hey girl!" Alya added. She looked excited about something. "Check it out!" She thrust her phone in my face.

I blinked in surprise, then noticed that the screen of her phone showed a particular website.

"The Ladyblog?" I read the title, and fought the urge to laugh out loud. A blog dedicated to Ladybug? Wow!

"That's right" Alya crowed as she took her phone back. "Ladyblog: bringing you all the latest news about the coolest Superhero, Ladybug!" She held the phone out for Marinette to see. "How awesome is that?" She continued as she took her phone back. "Check out the number of views since I posted my video!"

"Wow, Ladybug's pretty popular" I commented as I looked at the view-count, which appeared to be over 5,000 views, which was impressive seeing how the video had only gone up yesterday. "But…what about the other heroes, Char Noir and Ermine?" I asked hesitantly. "Did you make blogs for them too?"

"Huh? Oh well, I talk about them as well, of course, but Ladybug's _obviously_ the leader of the group, so naturally _she_ gets the spotlight" Alya replied.

"Oh" I felt a twinge of envy inside me that I didn't have my own blog, but I quickly pushed these feelings down, knowing that if Ladybug saw this blog dedicated to her, it might help restore her confidence. _That_ was more important right now. "Yeah, I guess you're right" I said, shrugging my shoulders.

"But…why do you both trust Ladybug so much?" Marinette's voice made us both stop and turn around. She stood a few feet behind us looking…somewhat torn. "I mean, all these stone beings…"

"She's gonna handle them" Alya scoffed, not looking worried in the slightest.

Marinette's expression didn't change. "But…what if she's not really cut out to be a superhero, even though everyone thinks she is?"

I raised an eyebrow. _That_ was a weird thing to say. "Marinette, what are you talking about?" I asked.

"Oh, wait a minute" Arya suddenly stepped forward. "I think I know what this is about"

To my surprise, Marinette looked flustered and panicked as Alya leaned towards her. "Y-you do?" She squeaked.

"Of course, I do. You're scared" Alya said soothingly, placing a hand on Marinette's shoulder. "But you shouldn't be. I've seen it with my own two eyes, girl!" Alya pointed to her eyes as she spoke, causing me to chuckle. "Ladybug is a true superheroine!"

"Alya's right" I added, smiling at Marinette. "And even if Ladybug somehow _does_ manage to come up short, she's not alone in this fight. She's got Chat Noir and Ermine there to help pick up the slack."

"But…but what if they don't want to work with Ladybug anymore, after what's happened?" Marinette asked, looking at me.

I snorted "Why would they abandon her? She makes one mistake and suddenly it's game over?" I shook my head, then chuckled as Alya gave me a queer look. "I mean, I'm no expert, obviously, but I'm pretty sure that's _not_ how a superhero team works"

"Exactly" Alya nodded as she straightened up, looking back at Marinette. "Ladybug, Chat Noir, and Ermine will protect us all!" She exclaimed, clenching her fist. "I believe in them, but in Ladybug most of all" With that, Alya turned and walked into the school. Marinette followed a few seconds later, a smile on her face.

As I moved to follow them, I suddenly spotted Ivan, sitting heavily on a bench, surrounded by a small knot of his classmates.

"Uh oh" I said under my breath and began moving towards him.

"So, you really don't remember anything?" A girl named Alix asked. Ivan shook his head.

"You were totally going ballistic. It was so cool" A gothic girl named Juleka said, making Ivan look at her funny.

"You were seriously out to crush me, dude!" Kim exclaimed; his hand clenched into a fist.

"Hey! HEY!" Alya suddenly darted in between Kim and Ivan. "I'm sure Ivan feels bad enough about what's happened, right Ivan?" She said.

"I…I'm sorry, you guys, I…I don't…I wasn't myself…" Ivan's gaze traveled from one face to another.

"Exactly, so how about we not make things any worse for Ivan than they already are, okay?" As Alya was speaking, I saw Ivan glance a certain direction and followed his gaze. He was looking at Mylene, a short girl in my class with her hair pleated into multi-colored dreadlocks. Realizing that Ivan was looking at her, Mylene looked away.

I felt a small smile creep across my face as I remembered the note that Kim had written to Ivan the other day, about how Ivan was afraid to admit that he liked Mylene. Maybe Mylene was the key to keeping Ivan under control.

"Pff!" A scoffing sound made me look around to see my sister leaning, arms crossed, against a support beam, Sabrina at her side. "Too late for that!" Chloe said when she saw that all eyes were on her. "Once a monster, always a monster!"

I groaned. "Seriously, Chloe" I muttered under my breath. It was like my sister was deliberately trying to make my task more difficult, without even knowing it!

Everyone gasped as Ivan suddenly stood up, an angry expression on his face. We all took a step back, as Ivan stomped away.

"Don't let the door hit you on the way out!" Chloe sang after the departing Ivan, a smug look on her face.

I took a deep breath to sate my rising anger. As much as I wanted to rip into Chloe, keeping Ivan's emotions in check was the bigger issue right now, so I reluctantly turned my back on the group and went after Ivan.

"How could you say that to Ivan? You're the _real_ Stoneheart!" I heard Alya say angrily as I walked away, and I smiled. Looks like I wasn't the only one who wanted to have a go at my sister.

I followed Ivan to the locker rooms, and upon entering, saw him slumped down near the far wall. His eyes were closed and he was wearing headphones.

Approaching quietly, I knelt down and tapped Ivan on the arm. When he looked up and saw me, his eyes narrowed and he looked away.

I gave a small sigh and tapped his arm again, harder this time.

This time, Ivan took off his headphones. "What do _you_ want?" He snapped.

Ignoring the jab, I gave Ivan a smile and said simply "You should tell Mylene how you feel, Ivan"

Ivan's anger faded and was replaced by uneasiness. "I…don't know what you're talking about"

I gave a small chuckle. "Come on Ivan. I heard about what Kim wrote to you the other day, and I saw the way you looked at Mylene just now. Just because I'm related to a 'dumb blonde', that doesn't make me one too." I joked, and was rewarded when Ivan's scowl turned into a chuckle. "It's clear that you have feelings for Mylene. But the question now is, does Mylene have feelings for you?" I continued.

Ivan snorted and shook his head. "No way. She'd never be interested in someone like me"

"Don't be so sure" I said, feeling my smile widen as Ivan looked up at me. "From the way Mylene was acting earlier, I'm inclined to think she actually _might_"

"Really?" A flicker of hope appeared in Ivan's eyes.

"I think so, yes, but of course, this is only based off what I noticed." I said quickly. "The only way to know for certain, is for you to go talk to her"

Ivan made a scoffing noise. "I'm no good with words anyway" He said.

"Well then…" My mind whirred as I searched for the right form of inspiration. The answer came in a flash. "You'll just have to find _another_ way to communicate. You don't _need_ words to tell someone how you feel. You could draw her a picture, you could send her flowers, you could…"

"I could…write a song?" Ivan interrupted.

I gasped happily. "Oh Ivan, that's a wonderful idea! What girl wouldn't love a special song written just for her? I remember a boy in my last school wrote a song for a girl and she said it was the greatest gift she had ever received! I'm sure Mylene will love it!"

"You…you think so?" Ivan looked happy now, almost excited.

"I _know_ so. Go for it, Ivan! Just remember to speak from your heart…" I tapped Ivan's big chest. "…and stay positive. Okay?"

Ivan nodded as he leapt to his feet. He was practically giggling as he headed for the doors.

Good luck!" I called after Ivan as he disappeared.

Minkk suddenly floated up into my line of vision, giggling. "Wow, you certainly turned his mood upside down!"

I giggled as well. "I hope this works. Ivan's a lot easier to handle than Stoneheart"

Minkk nodded, then dove back into her pouch as I picked up my bag and left the locker room.

As I crossed the schoolyard, I noticed that a large crowd was gathered by one of the stairs, so I crossed the courtyard to the stair opposite it and made my way up to the second floor. As I crossed the hall towards the classroom, a familiar voice stopped me, "Alice?"

I looked around and my eyes widened when I saw Adrien Agreste staring at me with Chloe on his arm, his eyes wide as well. A second later, my face cracked in a big grin. Even though Chloe had been going on and on about it for weeks, with all that had been happening, I had almost forgotten that Adrien would be in the same class as me.

"Hey Adrien!" I said happily as they walked up to me. I saw that Chloe was no longer smiling.

"Well, this is a nice surprise!" Adrien beamed at me as we clasped hands and then hugged each other. "What are you doing here?"

I shrugged my shoulders as we broke apart. "I go to school here now"

"Really? That's awesome!" Adrien's eyes widened before turning to Chloe. "You never mentioned your sister would be going here too, Chloe!"

"Oh, didn't I?" Chloe gave Adrien a fake smile. "I'm _so_ sorry, it must have slipped my mind"

"Yes, I'm sure your mind was otherwise occupied by something" I jabbed. "Now if I could only work out who it was"

Chloe's smile faded and, to my delight, her cheeks flushed.

Adrien laughed. "I see you haven't lost your witt" He commented as Chloe began pulling him towards the classroom.

"And have to deal with all the trouble of finding it again? No thanks!" I joked, causing Adrien to chuckle as we entered the classroom.

Once inside, Chloe detached from Adrien and stood in front of him. "Well, here is your seat, Adrikins. I saved it for you, right in front of me!"

"Don't you mean in front of you and Alice?" Adrien looked at me.

"Oh please, Alice had nothing to do with it!" Chloe snapped. "She just stood there and watched while I did all the hard work"

"Yeah, and the guilt's been tearing me up ever since" I rolled my eyes and muttered just loud enough for Adrien to hear.

He chuckled at me, and moved to take his seat. "Thanks Chloe" he said as he passed her. As I moved to take my seat, I found Sabrina and Chloe blocking the way. As I watched, Chloe took her gum out of her mouth and passed it to Sabrina, who stuck it where Marinette had been sitting the other day.

"Chloe, what are you doing?" I exclaimed, frowning.

"Yeah, what's that all about?" Adrien asked, getting to his feet.

"Oh, the brats that sat here yesterday need a little attitude adjustment." Said Chloe as she and Sabrina took their seats. "I'm just commanding a little respect, that's all."

"You think that's really necessary" Adrian asked, moving towards the gum and kneeling down over it.

"Ah, you have _a lot_ to learn about school culture, Adrikins. Just watch the master" Chloe said loftily.

Adrien began prodding at the gum. Knowing that it was only a matter of time before Marinette and Alya walked in, I knelt down beside him. "Go sit down, I got it" I said to Adrien.

"Are you sure?" He looked concerned.

I nodded. "I know the girls that sit here. I think they'll more likely believe an explanation from me, than from you" I knew that I was taking a risk by doing this, but Adrien had never been to public school before, so he didn't realize what complex environments they could be, and how first impressions tended to make a lasting impact. I didn't want him making enemies right off the bat. Rejection was something I could handle, but I didn't know if Adrien could live with it, especially considering how nice he is.

"'Okay" Adrien moved back and I began scraping at the gum with my thumbnail. Unfortunately, the gum was still soft and resisted my efforts to pry it off. I altered my stance to try from a different angle.

"HEY!"

"Ow!" A loud voice made me jump and I hit my head on the seat. The classroom echoed with laughter as I rubbed my head and looked up to see Marinette standing over me, her hands on her hips, and her face angry.

"What are you doing?" she demanded.

"Marinette! I was just…" I started to say, but Marinette's eyes widened, then narrowed, when she saw the gum. Unfortunately, this only made Chloe and Sabrina laugh even harder.

Marinette's eyes darted from my laughing sister to me, then to the gum, and narrowed farther. "Oh, I get it now. Very funny!" She snapped.

"N-n-no, Marinette! You don't understand! I was trying to get this _off_!" I argued as I got to my feet.

"Oh really?" Marinette stuck her angry face into mine. "And here you were telling us yesterday that you _weren't_ like Chloe" She snarled.

Chloe and Sabrina were laughing their tails off as Marinette pushed me aside and knelt over her seat, gagging as she touched the gum.

"Here, you can use this" I pulled my handkerchief out of my pocket and handed it to her.

"Thank you, but I think you've already _helped_ plenty" Marinette's voice and her glare at me were both so cold I felt like shivering.

"Hey wait a minute!" Adrien spoke up. "She was only trying to get the gum off the seat, I can vouch for her!"

Marinette looked at Adrien, but her expression didn't change. "Why? Because she's Chloe's sister and you're friends with Chloe?"

Adrien groaned. "Why do people keep saying that?" He muttered.

"It's okay Adrien. Don't worry about it" I assured him, placing a hand on his shoulder.

Marinette had covered the gum with a paper towel and sat down, not looking at either of us. Adrien exchanged a sad glance with me and took his seat.

"_Now_ do you see what I mean about respect?" Chloe said smugly as I climbed past her to get to my seat.

"Sometimes I don't believe we're related" I muttered under my breath as I finally got to my seat next to Nathaniel, who had his head down on his desk.

I had just at down when Miss Bustier walked in. Through the gap between Sabrina and Chloe, I saw Nino and Adrien shaking hands, and I couldn't help but smile. I had known Adrien for a long time, even thought we had only seen each other during holidays when my family and his family would occasionally mingle. Chloe had adored Adrien and claimed Adrien adored her as well, but as far as I could see, only Chloe seemed to think that way, and she tended to treat Adrien more like a show dog than an actual friend. Maybe that was why Adrien and I always had such fun on the rare times we could get together without Chloe in the way. He once told me that Chloe and I were his only friends. It was good to see him making new friends.

As Miss Bustier stood up to take roll call, Mylene suddenly burst into the room, breathless. As she apologized and rushed to her seat, I suddenly realized that Ivan wasn't here either. I wondered if he was still trying to write that song for Mylene.

"Agreste, Adrien" Miss Bustier called.

I saw Nino whisper something to Adrien and the boy suddenly stood up, stretched his hand towards the ceiling and said "Present!"

The class laughed as Adrien sat down and fist-bumped Nino.

"Bourgeois, Alice"

"Present" I raised my hand, then winked at Adrien as I put it back down. He grinned at me sheepishly.

"Bourgeois, Chloe"

"Present" Chloe replied sweetly.

"Bruel, Ivan"

I was about to answer that Ivan was probably going to be delayed when the door to the classroom was suddenly blasted off its frame into the room.

Everyone gasped as Stoneheart rushed into the room. "PRESENT!" He roared.

_Oh no!_ I felt horror flood through me. _Not again!_

Chloe and most of the other girls screamed. Chaos erupted as Stoneheart stalked forward, calling out "Mylene?" while the rest of the class scrambled to get out of the monster's way.

I saw Nino, Adrien, and Nathaniel, finally awake, bolt from the classroom. Chloe had crouched under her desk while Sabrina appeared too terrified to move. I crouched down in my seat, hoping Stoneheart didn't see me. I had a feeling that Ivan's song idea hadn't worked too well and I didn't want him blaming me for it.

Mylene also seemed frozen with fear as Stoneheart finally spotted her and moved towards her, ripping Marinette and Alya's desk out of the way. Alya darted sideways towards the window, but Marinette ran back towards my desk. I scooted over to make room for her and she crouched down beside me without hesitation, though when she noticed me kneeling next to her, she scowled at me, causing me to roll my eyes.

"Let go of me, Ivan!" Mylene's voice caused me to peak over the top of the desk to see Stoneheart clutching Mylene in his hand.

"I'm not Ivan anymore. I'm Stoneheart!" As Ivan spoke to Mylene, I slowly began creeping towards the door so I could get out to find a place to transform.

"Why are you doing this?" Mylene asked.

"So, you and I can be together, forever, as I was trying to tell you earlier!" Stoneheart replied, causing me to grit my teeth. This was all my fault! I must have made Ivan too eager with my encouragement, and he must have presented his song to Mylene in a way she either didn't like, or didn't understand. Ivan had been re-akumatized because of me! I had to fix this!

By this time, I was level with Chloe and Sabrina's desk. Both girls were crouched under their desk, Sabrina was curled up into a ball, while Chloe was dialing on her phone, no doubt calling daddy. I straightened up as I prepared to dash for the door.

A floorboard creaked under me, just loud enough for Stoneheart to hear.

"You!" Stoneheart growled as he looked around and spotted me. I gasped in fear as he started to reach for me. I guess I was also right that Ivan might have a grudge against me.

"Daddy! The monster is back!" Chloe's voice suddenly made him freeze. I peered under the desk to see Chloe speaking into her phone and making _no_ attempt whatsoever to keep quiet.

"_YOU!"_ Stoneheart, having spotted Chloe, ripped up her table, causing it to almost fall on top of me, and grabbed Chloe.

"Aaah! Please not the hair!" Chloe wailed as Ivan held her up. I snorted. She was being kidnapped and she was worried about her _hair_? My sister was _weird_!

Peeking out from behind the upturned desk, I saw Stoneheart move over to the outer wall, kick a large hole in it, and then jump through it to the street below.

"Put us down, Ivan!" I heard Mylene yell as Alya rushed to the gaping hole and peered through it.

Having seen enough, I dashed out of the classroom and down the hall, but paused as I felt my phone vibrate. I checked the caller ID, it was my father.

"Hello?"

"_Alice? Is Chloe with you? She was in the process of telling me something when we got cut off!"_ My father sounded concerned.

"No, Chloe's not with me, dad. She and another of my classmates were just abducted by Stoneheart!" I said as I rushed down the stairs towards the ground floor.

"_Stoneheart? You mean that thing from yesterday?"_

"Yeah, somehow Ivan transformed again. He busted into the classroom, grabbed both of them and then busted out through the wall." I said as I reached the ground floor and sprinted towards the girls' restroom, which I felt would be the safest place for a transformation.

"_Oh dear! Are you alright, Alice?"_ I felt a grin flash across my face, normally my father appeared to dote on Chloe more than me. It was nice to know that he actually cared about me as well.

"I'm fine dad. Not even scratched." I said as I opened the restroom door and looked around. The room appeared empty.

"_Good. I'm mobilizing the police as we speak. Stay at the school until I come and get you, alright? I'll see you when this is all over"_ My father's voice took on a more formal tone.

"Sure thing dad" I said as my father hung up.

I sighed as I put my phone away, then rushed around checking to make sure all the toilet stalls were empty before ducking into one. As I bolted the door, Minkk suddenly flew out from under my shirt where she had been hiding since Stoneheart reappeared.

"So, how's your day going?" She asked with a teasing grin.

"Very funny" I gave an amused snort as Minkk giggled. "Minkk, Showtime!"

Minkk flew into my belt buckle and I transformed into my Ermine costume, a furry white bodysuit with black accents and thicker fur around my neck, forearms and forelegs and a long white tail with a black tip.

Leaping up onto the top of the stalls, I made my way over to a window in the room, eased it open, and slipped outside.

Finding myself on the street, I unsnapped my whip, lassoed a nearby chimney pot, and vaulted up onto the roof of a building opposite the school. Spotting Stoneheart out near the front doors, I began following him.

"Well hello there" A voice right behind me made me jump and whirl around to find Chat Noir standing behind me, leaning on his stick and grinning at me.

"Don't scare me like that!" I scolded, but I couldn't help smiling.

"Sorry." Chat Noir said before we turned to look down at Stoneheart. "What's the situation?"

"Stoneheart is back" I said, even though that should have been obvious. "And he's abducted two girls, Mylene Haprele and Chloe Bourgeois."

I thought I saw a flicker of recognition in Chat Noir's eyes, but it was gone in a second. "Great, so now we've got two problems to take care of"

"I know right?" I rolled my eyes, before using my whip to catch onto a nearby light pole. "Come on!"

"Wait! Shouldn't we wait for Ladybug?" Chat Noir asked, making me pause. "My kwami told me we can't capture the akuma without her."

"Mine said the same thing" I nodded. "But even if we can't cure Stoneheart, we _can_ try to free his captives. Now, come on!" I jumped off the roof and pulled myself to the lamp, then lassoed and pulled myself to the rooftop of the school.

By now, I was close enough to Stoneheart to hear Chloe complaining loudly. "You don't know who you're dealing with! My daddy, the mayor, will bring in the police, the army, the _entire cavalry_!" I rolled my eyes at Chloe's banter. It was gonna take _a lot_ more than that to intimidate Stoneheart, I was certain.

"And don't forget the superheroes!" Chat Noir suddenly yelled as he leapt up and sailed over Stoneheart, whacking him in the back of his head with his stick.

My mouth dropped open. Did Chat Noir _really_ just do that? Didn't he remember what happened to Stoneheart last time someone tried that?

Sure enough, as the hero landed in front of Stoneheart, and I jumped down next to him, the monster seemed to glow and increase in size, making him even bulkier than before.

"Uh oh!" Chat Noir gulped when he realized his error.

"Uhh, _seriously_?" I growled, shooting Chat Noir an annoyed look.

"Sorry, my bad!" He said sheepishly.

"Ugh. Super-incompetent, you mean" Chloe snapped, and for once I was inclined to agree with her.

Stoneheart snorted at us. "You want the cavalry? Where here it is!" He yelled and the other stone-beings raced up to us from all sides.

"No!" I growled as I quickly realized we were surrounded. I was _really_ hoping Minkk had been wrong about the whole private-army thing.

"Seize them!" Stoneheart ordered his new minions.

The stone-beings lunged at us, forcing us to evade their attacks, as Stoneheart walked away with his captives. Seeing this, I growled and tried to race after them, but two of the being blocked my way, holding a small ink car above their heads.

"Oh boy!" I gulped as they threw the car at me. Thinking quickly, I dove forwards, flattening myself against the ground so the car passed harmlessly over me, then I sprang back to my feet, just missing the rocky fist of another being that had been trying to crush my head.

Slowly, but surely, Chat Noir and I worked our way down the street in the direction Stoneheart had gone, though he was out of sight by this point. Many of the beings had followed him, leaving only five or so to deal with us. I dodged the swipe of one and Chat Noir backflipped away from another, causing us to meet up in the middle of the street, with the five beings standing between us and our target. One of the beings had picked up a yellow car and now it threw the car at us, forcing us to dart to opposite sides of the street. Chat Noir darted behind a parked car while I took shelter behind a trash can.

"Hey Ladybug, if you can hear us, we could really use some help!" Chat Noir called out from his hiding place.

_What is that bug waiting for?_ I thought as I prepared myself for another attack. The attack came in the form of another car, that was thrown straight at me by two of the stone-beings. I leapt back towards the center of the road to doge it, but paused when I heard a cry of terror behind me.

I turned, and terror flooded through me as I saw Marinette's friend Alya running away from the trash can I had been crouched behind. She must have been right behind me without my realizing!

I started to move towards her, but Chat Noir's stick zipped past me and slams into the car, altering its trajectory, but not enough. The car slammed down, not hitting Alya, but trapping her against the wall of a building.

"Chat Noir! The girl!" I cried out.

"Right! I'm…_ooff!"_ His muffled grunt had me whirl around to see one of the stone-beings had grabbed him. The being lifted him up and all I could see were his legs flailing.

"No!" I growled before being forced to dodge a wild swing from another stone being. I flipped over his hand and landed near where Alya was trapped.

"Ermine, help me!" I turned to see Alya had managed to climb up the wall and was now struggling to climb through the gap between the wall and the underside of the car.

"Hang on miss! I'll…YEOW!" I moved towards Alya, but suddenly froze and screeched with pain as I felt one of the stone-beings grab my tail. Unlike Chat Noir's tail, which I suspected was just a belt, my tail was a _real_ one, complete with feelings, and right now I was feeling so much intense pain that I would up dropping my whip.

With both of us secured, the stone-beings began to march down the street. I heard Alya yell for help, but there was nothing either of us could do.

"Let go, you rockhead!" I heard Chat Noir exclaim from inside the grip of the being that held him. I was too busy whimpering in pain to say anything. My tail felt like it was being stretched, in a _very_ painful way, as I dangled from the grasp of the being holding me. I hit and scratched at its big hand, but it didn't even seem to notice what I was doing.

"Ermine, a little help!" Chat Noir called out as we were carried down the street.

"Sorry Chat, they got me too!" I called back as I twisted in midair, and grasped onto the being holding me, wrapping my arms and legs around his enormous arm. Sure, this position wasn't much better, but at least my tail didn't hurt as much now that it didn't bear all my body weight. The being glanced down at me and I growled up at it, flashing my fangs. I slashed at it's face with the claws on my glove, but its head was too high for me to reach. The being snorted and shook his arm, trying to shake me loose, rattling my bones and jarring my brains inside my head.

When the stone-being finally stopped I was left somewhat winded, but through the dizziness I noticed that my tail hurt even less now. At first, I thought it was due to my new position, but when I snuck a glance back, I saw that more of it was visible now.

_How did…_? My eyes widened as a sudden idea struck me. I didn't like it, but frankly I also didn't have much of a choice.

"Hey!" I turned and yelled at the stone-being holding me. It looked down and I lunged for its head, swiping with both claws at its eyes. As I expected, it growled and shook its arm again, but this time I was ready. I grabbed onto its arm, held on tight, and tried to pull my tail out of the being's grip. In addition to my tail having feelings, I could also control it, like a fifth appendage. Of course, I didn't have much _experience_ in controlling my tail yet, and it was hard to concentrate when I was being shaken violently, but as I had hoped, the being was so focused on shaking its arm that its grip on my tail wasn't as strong as earlier, and after about a minute, I was able to pull it loose.

"HA!" I barked happily as I jumped up, backflipping away from the stone-being, who roared as it realized its prey was now free.

I performed another series of black flips to give myself room, flipping over another stone-being, but while I was in midair, I felt something grab me and I yelped, shutting my eyes, thinking it was another stone-being.

"Ermine?" I opened my eyes to see Ladybug holding onto me, her blue eyes wide with surprise.

"Ladybug!" I let myself relax as we landed on a light pole. "Where have _you_ been?"

"Just doing a little soul-searching. Oh, and I think this is yours." Ladybug gave me a smile before holding her hand out. Laying on her palm was…

"My whip!" I cried joyously as I took my weapon back from Ladybug. "Thanks!"

"No problem" Ladybug's smile widened, but faded when she noticed the Stone-beings turn to face us, including the one holding Chat Noir. "Excuse me" She said before leaping high into the air and throwing something at the being holding Chat Noir, his stick.

"Chat Noir! Extend it!" She yelled as the stick vanished between the fingers of the stone-being. A moment later, the being's hand was forced open and Chat Noir emerged, tumbling down onto the asphalt in front of the being, who made a wild grab to reclaim his prize. But Ladybug threw her yo-yo around Chat Noir's legs and yanked him out of harms way.

"Sorry I'm late, you too" Ladybug said to us.

"Hey, better late than never, right?" I smiled at her, swishing my tail. "And your timing is certainly impeccable"

"I'll say, Milady" Chat Noir spoke up from where he was dangling, upside down and still wrapped in Ladybug's yo-yo, from the lamppost Ladybug and I were both crouching on. "Have I ever told you that you turn my world upside down?" He said with a wink.

I rolled my eyes at the joke as Ladybug smiled "Oh, you're quite the jokester, aren't you?"

A series of angry roars made all three of us look up to see the Stone beings charging towards us.

"Yeah, but your comedic timing needs some work" I added

"I agree! We gotta get out of here!" Ladybug and I jumped towards a nearby rooftop, dragging Chat Noir with us.

"Follow me!" Ladybug called as we reached the roof and Chat Noir managed to get himself free from the Yo-yo. Ladybug took off running along the rooftops away from the stone-beings, with Chat Noir and I on her heels.

"Hey! Aren't we going to take care of them?" Chat Noir asked as we left our captors in the dust.

As the two of us caught up with Ladybug, I saw her looking down at her yo-yo, which was open and displaying an image, like a phone screen.

"No" Ladybug said mid-leap. By this point, by had reached a square that was across the river from the Eiffel Tower. "If we want to save them all, then we go to the source. That one!" She pointed to the original Stoneheart who had, by this point, climbed partway up the Eiffel Tower and was now roaring defiantly at the police helicopters flying around him, in a fitting imitation of King Kong.

From what I could see, the police had set up barricades at both sides of the bridge between us and the Eiffel Tower. But they couldn't get any closer because a handful of Stone-beings were prowling around the tower's base.

"I demand my daughter's safe return!" My father shouted through a megaphone. He was standing in front of the police barricade at our end of the bridge.

"Daddy!" Chloe cried out, her voice carrying out across the river unaided.

"Huh, you know what? You're welcome to her!" Stoneheart growled as he looked at my sister. Then, to my horror, he threw her off the tower towards us.

"Sis" I hissed, then I was moving. Chloe may be a spoiled brat and a world-class snob, but she _was_ my only sister.

I ignored the shocked cries of my partners and the police as I leapt up off the stairs we were on, flew over the barricade, used my whip to lasso a nearby light pole and swung myself hard, using the inertia of my momentum to catapult myself high enough to grab Chloe in mid-air. I landed hard on the bridge, the impact forcing me to one knee, but I was otherwise unhurt.

"Gotcha" I smiled at Chloe, who opened her eyes.

"I didn't promise anything" Chloe said when she saw she was safe.

"What?" I raised an eyebrow.

"Chloe!" My father called, running towards us. Chloe broke free of me, ran over, and threw her hands around our father. "Oh, my little princess!"

I felt a small smile cross my face as I watched the reunion. Part of me wanted to be in that hug, but I knew that wasn't an option right now.

"Wow! That was come catch!" Chat Noir exclaimed as he and Ladybug joined me on the bridge.

"Thanks" I smiled at him.

"We're clear to attack!" I heard the officer with the broken arm order. The other officers readied their firearms.

"No Wait!" Ladybug turned to them. "Don't attack them! It'll only make things worse!"

"I have a new plan, unlike you!" The officer yelled back, making a shooing motion with his free hand. "Why don't you move aside and let the pros do their thing? You've already failed once!"

I stiffened at the officer's accusatory tone and glanced at Ladybug. Sure enough, Ladybug looked taken aback.

"He's right, you know" She said, turning to look at us. "If I'd captured Stoneheart's akuma the first time, none of this would have happened! I knew I wasn't the right one for this job!" She put her head in her hands.

Seeing that made me mad. I was _not_ going to let Ladybug lose her confidence again! I framed the officer with a dark look that wiped the smirk off his face, then stepped forward to reach under Ladybug's chin and tilt it up until she was looking at me.

"He's wrong" I said, giving Ladybug what I hope was a reassuring smile. "When it comes to things like this, _we_'re the pros, not them." I tilted my head towards the officers "And even if you didn't get it right the first time, at least we managed to accomplish more than _they_ did"

"Ermine's right" Chat Noir came forward and placed a hand on Ladybug's shoulder. "Without us, without you, these guys won't make it. They don't have the skills, and apparently they don't have the smarts either" He winked at me on that last part, making me chuckle.

"But he said…" Ladybug still looked doubtful.

"Listen, we know what went wrong _last_ time, and we know what to do to make sure that doesn't happen _this_ time." I cut her off. "We still have a chance to save Paris, and _you_ still have a chance to show Paris the hero you truly are." I glanced at Chat Noir before adding. "and the leader that we both see you as"

Ladybug's face lit up with surprise, but I saw a flicker of hope in her eyes as she said "You mean that?" Wow, I was getting pretty good at these pep talks!

I nodded and so did Chat Noir.

"Just trust in yourself. Just like we trust in you. Okay?" Chat Noir said.

Ladybug's doubt appeared to fade away, with raw confidence taking its place "Okay!"

I felt my smile widen, but it froze when we heard a loud retching sound coming from behind us. We whirled around to see Stoneheart was coughing violently, roaring like something was caught in his rocky throat. Eventually, a swarm of what looked like akumas burst out of Stoneheart's mouth and he collapsed. The other Stone-beings suddenly froze, becoming statue-like again.

Before our eyes, the swarm of akumas rose up and took the form of…a face? A face that blinked open dark eyes and opened a grim-looking mouth. "_People of Paris, listen carefully!"_ The face hissed. "I am Hawkmoth!"

"Hawkmoth?" The three of us repeated curiously?

"_Ladybug, Chat Noir, Ermine. Give me the Ladybug earrings, the Cat ring, and the Weasel belt now! You've done more than enough damage to these innocent people!" _Hawkmoth's image boomed.

"_What_ did he just say?" I couldn't believe my ears. If this Hawkmoth was able to control the akumas, then _he_ must be the mastermind behind everything that had happened both yesterday and today! And now he was trying to make _us_ into the guilty party? I felt my lips part in a snarl and my hand gripped my whip tightly.

Chat Noir must have come to the same conclusion I had because his eyes narrowed to angry slits and he extended his stick until it was the length of a spear. "Why that nasty little…bug?" Our anger faded slightly as we became aware of the sound of applause behind us.

Chat Noir and I turned to see Ladybug pass us, clapping her hands as she calmly strolled towards Hawkmoth's image. "Nice try, Hawkmoth, but we know who the bad guy is. Let's not reverse the rolls here! Without you, none of these people would have been transformed in the first place!" She called up as she reached the end of the bridge and looked up at the face of Hawkmoth.

I felt my mouth open partially in surprise. The Ladybug we were looking at was _nothing_ like the Ladybug that had been here a moment ago. I exchanged an image with Chat Noir. He looked surprised too.

"Now _you_ listen carefully, Hawkmoth! No matter how long it takes, we _will_ find you! And when we do, _you_ will hand us _your_ Miraculous!"

No sooner had she finished speaking when she suddenly ran forward spinning her yo-yo. Before our eyes, Ladybug used her weapon to lasso two lamp posts and used her yo-yo string to slingshot herself, first forward to the base of the Eiffel Tower, then up into the air, until she was level with the Akuma swarm.

Still in midair, she spun her yo-yo and cried out "Time to De-Evilize!", before lashing out, capturing akumas from the swarm in her yo-yo. The Hawkmoth image roared with anger as Ladybug swung her yo-yo again and again, capturing more akumas with each swing. Finally, the image vanished as the remaining akumas scattered. Ladybug snapped up one more in her yo-yo before landing on the Eiffel Tower's platform and turning to face us.

My jaw had dropped open. Chat Noir's jaw had dropped open. Had I bothered to look around, I would have seen that everyone else was as surprised as we were. Ladybug had undergone a full metamorphosis, from timid rookie to a full-fledged hero in mere minutes! I had thought such quick personality transformations only existed in comic books!

"People of Paris, let me make this promise to you!" Ladybug called to us, her voice ringing loud and clear across the water. No matter who or what wants to harm you, Ladybug, Ermine, and Chat Noir will always be there, doing everything in our power to keep you safe!" With that, she threw her yo-yo up into the air. The device burst open and the captured akumas poured out, but they were white, instead of black, as if they had been purified. As they spread through the air, their silvery wings seemed to make the sky shimmer.

The display seemed the break the spell of silence that Ladybug's actions had caused. Everyone started cheering. I looked back to see even the policeman with the broken arm was cheering. Chloe was whooping with happiness while rising around on my father's back. The scene made my chuckle.

"Wow. Whoever she is beneath that mask, I love that girl" I turned to see Chat Noir gazing at Ladybug with a look of what appeared to be total devotion. Though I smiled, feeling a rush of happiness that Ladybug was finally showing her true heroic self again, I felt a pang of something else in my gut, disappointment.

_Wait, what?_ I paused and shook my head. Why was I feeling disappointed about Chat Noir's admiration of Ladybug? He was just a teammate…wasn't he?

Before I could ponder this any farther, a rumbling sound made me look up to see Stoneheart, who had been lying motionless the whole time the akuma swarm had been there, getting to his feet.

"Uh oh, looks like Rocky's on the move again, come on!" I exclaimed as I charged forward.

"Right behind you!" I heard Chat Noir say.

We raced across the bridge and leapt/climbed up the Eiffel Tower to join Ladybug.

As we reached them, I saw Mylene waving from where she was still trapped in Stoneheart's grip. "Help me!" She called to us.

"Huh! You'll never take Mylene away from me!" Stoneheart roared before turning and leaping over to one of the tower's support beams, his landing creating a shockwave that knocked all three of us off our feet. "Come to me, my Stone-beings!" Stoneheart ordered as he started climbing the support beams.

I heard rumbling and growling below us, meaning that the Stone-beings surrounding the tower that that had been frozen before were now heeding their master's call.

Cat Noir glanced over the railing, while Ladybug rubbed her chin thoughtfully. I kept my eyes on Stoneheart as he made his way up the side of the tower.

"We're surrounded!" Chat Nir said a moment later rushing back over to us. "What do we do now?"

"Well, we can't attack them directly, we know what _that's_ going to accomplish" I growled, my tail lashing in frustration. If only there was a way to get to the akuma controlling Stoneheart!

As if homing in on my thoughts, Ladybug spoke up "Yes, but we know where the akuma is"

"Yeah, in his clenched fist" Chat Noir answered.

"The same one he's holding Mylene with" I added, looking at Ladybug. "So…?"

"So, we know he's in love with her…" Ladybug's face suddenly lit up. "That's it! We don't separate Stoneheart and Mylene, we bring them closer together! They're made for each other! It's just they don't know it yet!" She emphasized with her hands as she spoke before bringing out her yo-yo and using it to swing up after Stoneheart.

"Um… I'm not really following, but I guess we'd better trust her" Chat Noir said to me.

I chuckled. "Better get used to it, Kitty. I think this is how it's gonna be from here on out" I said before the two of us leapt from beam to beam after Ladybug.

Ladybug used her Yo-yo to scale the Eiffel Tower while Cat Noir and I made use of our climbing abilities to leap up the side of the structure. Due to this, we soon overtook Stoneheart, moving up on the opposite side of the structure so he didn't see us. At the Top, Chat Noir waited at the top-most platform, while Ladybug and I flew ourselves up to the very top of the tower and perched on a pair of antennae that jutted out from the tower's spire, like a pair of large birds.

By this point, Stoneheart was nearly at the balcony where Chat Noir was waiting. He was saying something to Mylene in a low voice. Mylene looked away timidly, and saw us looking down at her.

"Help! I'm scared of heights!" She cried out, reaching for us. Her actions made Stoneheart look up and he growled at us.

"Everything's gonna be alright!" Ladybug yelled back. Stoneheart's glowing eyes seemed to narrow and he let out a roar of defiance that made the tower shake. It was so forceful that even the police helicopters that had followed Stoneheart up the tower backed off a little.

I heard more roaring from down below and saw that a trio of Stone beings had been climbing up the tower after us, and were now climbing over the balcony railing. One of them reached for Chat Noir, forcing him to leap away. "So, how do you plan to get them closer than they already are?" He called up as he extended his stick and swung it around like a baton.

"By using our powers!" Ladybug called back before throwing her Yo-yo up into the air "LUCKY CHARM!" A cloud of ladybugs swarmed out of the yo-yo and formed a…

"A parachute?" Ladybug looked confused as she caught the red-and-black contraption. "What am I supposed to do with this?"

"Beats me" I shrugged.

"Okay Ermine, your turn" Ladybug said to me.

I nodded and stood up straight. "ANIMORPHIX!" I cried out, raising my hands. A cloud of white light enveloped my body and I felt myself begin to change. My arms grew longer and my chest grew thicker. I felt my nose shrink and my toes felt like they were being moved. The light faded a few seconds later and I found myself on all fours.

"A gorilla?" I turned to see Ladybug looking at me quizzically as I landed behind her.

"Huh "I examined myself. Ladybug was right. I now had a gorilla's long muscular arms, powerful hands, and a thick, barrel chest, all covered with white fur. "Not sure how going ape is going to help us" I said, then I groaned as I realized I had just made a joke without even trying.

"Wow, your jokes are just as bad as Chat Noir's" Ladybug chuckled.

"Thanks" I gave Ladybug a deadpan look.

"Woah!" The two of us looked back to see Chat Noir being thrown by one of the Stone-beings. He managed to avoid the grasp of another one and leapt up onto a beam, out of their reach. "You sure you know what you're doing?" He yelled up to us.

"We'll find out soon enough!" Ladybug called back as she buckled on the parachute. She spun her yo-yo before launching it at Stoneheart. The string wrapped around Stoneheart's arm and neck before coming back to her.

"His hand!" Ladybug called down to Chat Nor, before turning to me. "Get ready!"

I nodded and sprang off the antennae, to land on a small outcropping about halfway between Ladybug's perch and the platform where Chat Noir was battling the Stone-beings. Stoneheart glared at me and I glared right back at him. I felt a sudden urge to beat my chest, but I managed to quash it.

Ladybug pulled hard on her Yo-yo, drawing Stoneheart's hand up until Mylene's face was up against Stonehearts', their lips meeting.

Startled by the kiss, Stoneheart opened his hand, causing Mylene and a purple ball of paper to fall out. Screaming, Mylene lunged for Stoneheart's fingers and only just managed to grab one.

"Chat Noir! The Akuma! Ermine, secure Mylene!" Ladybug ordered.

"Right!" Chat Noir leapt off the tower, extended his stick to jam into the railing and used the stick to extend out over the akumatized paper. He then retracted the stick and started to fall after the paper. Upon reaching it, he used his stick to bat it like a baseball back towards Ladybug.

Meanwhile, I leapt up and landed on Stoneheart's shoulders. The giant roared, but there was nothing eh could do as I climbed down his rocky arms towards Mylene, who was holding on for dear life.

"Mylene! Take my hand!" I called, reaching for her.

"NO! You will not take her from me!" Stoneheart roared, shaking his arm in an attempt to throw me off, but he stopped when Mylene cried out in terror.

"AHH! HELP, I'M SLIPPING!" Mylene suddenly screamed, making my blood run cold. Without pausing to think, I lunged forward as Mylene started to fall. I leapt after her, grabbing Mylene's arm with one hand and Stoneheart's pinkie with the other hand. Flexing my new gorilla muscles, I pulled Mylene back in and, pressing her against my chest, swung myself back up onto Stoneheart's arm. Stoneheart roared angrily and tried to grab me, but he was too slow to stop me as I climbed onto his back, leapt over his head back onto the Tower and climbed up beyond his reach.

"Home Run!" I heard Ladybug cry happily and looked up to see her use her yo-yo to retrieve the akumatized object from midair. I snorted in amusement; I hadn't pegged Ladybug as a baseball admirer.

In a whirling mass of black smoke, I saw the akuma fly out of the paper and away from the tower. Ladybug opened her yo-yo and prepared to capture the akuma. "De-Evilize…huh?"

We all gasped in horror as Stoneheart was suddenly consumed in black mist, reverting back to Ivan. But the process also caused Ivan to lose his grip and he started falling.

"Ivan, no!" Mylene cried out.

Grunting, I leapt down towards Ivan. Flipping myself over the platform railing, I hung on with one hand and reached for the boy with the other hand, but he was too far away! I watched helplessly as the boy plummeted towards the ground below.

"IVAN!" Mylene's scream rang in my ears.

Twisting my gaze upwards, I saw Ladybug's gaze shift from the falling Ivan to the escaping akuma, and back again. I saw her eyes narrow, then she leapt off the antennae. "Chat Noir, you take care of Ivan!" Ladybug called as she threw her yo-yo up towards the akuma, capturing it.

"Got it! CATACLYSM!" Still hanging from the railing, I looked down to see that Chat Noir had extended his stick and jammed it into the side of the Eiffel Tower to keep from falling. Now, having activated his power, he vaulted off his stick and leapt up at the tower, brushing his hand along a section of it as he started falling again.

With a groan, a section of the tower broke away and fell outwards, forming an extension that Chat Noir slid down. Reaching the edge, he grabbed Ivan just as the boy fell past, his other hand holding onto the extended section.

Mylene and I both sighed when we saw that Ivan and Chat Noir were safe. Meanwhile, Ladybug had deployed her parachute and was floating down to the ground.

I turned to see Mylene looking at me. "Umm…" She started.

I snorted and reached up, picking up Mylene again and pulling her over the railing towards me. She yelped with fear.

"Just hold on tight, and don't open your eyes until I tell you" I said soothingly as I cradled her against my chest, and let go of the railing. Using my gorilla reflexes, strength, and my three remaining 'hands', I navigated my way down the side of the tower in pretty much the reverse way that Chat Noir and I had climbed up the tower, leaping downwards from one beam to the next. I could hear Mylene whimpering against my chest, but I ignored her and focused on getting us down.

"Hey! Wait up!" I heard Chat Noir call as we passed him and Ivan. The two of them had just gotten off the rusted extension that Chat Noir's cataclysm had created.

I paused, looked up at him, and snorted. "Come on then!" I clapped my shoulder with my other hand pointing to my back. Chat Noir helped Ivan climb on and I leapt off again, jumping down the inside of the tower with Chat Noir right behind me.

By the time we reached the ground, Ladybug had shed her parachute and was straightening up. I helped Ivan climb down and told Mylene she could open her eyes now. Mylene smiled and sighed with relief when she saw she was safely on the ground again.

"Nice work, you guys" Ladybug grinned at us.

"You too" I nodded back at her "What about the akuma?"

Ladybug opened her yo-yo. A white butterfly popped out and flew away.

"Bye bye, little butterfly" Ladybug grinned at the sight.

"So, what now?" I asked. "We've cured Ivan, but it's gonna take a while to recover from all the damage Stoneheart caused, not to mention there's still the Stone-beings. You think we should go help…with…what are you doing?" I narrowed my eyes as I saw Ladybug was looking at something on the screen of her yo-yo.

"Hmmm, I wonder" Ladybug frowned thoughtfully. Before I could ask, she began grabbing up her parachute.

"Again, what are you doing?" I asked.

"Trying something" Ladybug answered. She threw the parachute up into the air and called out "MIRACULOUS LADYBUGS!"

To our amazement, the parachute glowed white before exploding into an enormous swarm of what looked like ladybugs. The swarm split up into smaller groups and zipped through the air. As we watched, the ladybugs swarmed around the Stone-beings, obscuring them form view. When the swarms finally lifted, I was shocked to see that the Stone-beings were regular people again.

"Woah!" My eyes widened and my mouth dropped open as I watched the swarms of ladybugs flying around town, repairing all the damage caused by Stoneheart and the Stone-beings.

"Wow, are you all seeing what I'm seeing?" Chat Noir sounded awe-struck.

"Yeah, it's beautiful!" Ladybug exclaimed.

"It's amazing!" I added in awe.

"It's…uh…MIRACULOUS!" Ladybug cried out as the swarms of ladybugs flew upwards and vanished, causing both Chat Noir and I to laugh.

Suddenly, my body was haloed in a blinding white light, and when the light faded a few seconds later, I found myself human again.

"Aww, too bad. I was just about to buy you some bananas for a job well done" Chat Noir joked.

I smirked. "Careful Chat Noir. Comments like that could prove hazardous to your health" I said, flexing my claws playfully at him.

"Ooh" Chat Noir's eyes widened and Ladybug giggled at my gesture, making my smile widen. I had a feeling working with these two was going to be a lot of fun, regardless of whatever future problems Hawkmoth decided to throw at us.

With the excitement over, some of the police began taking down and moving the barricades, while others were escorting former Stone-beings away to take statements.

As Ladybug and Chat Noir began speaking with one of the officers, I moved over to where Ivan and Mylene were standing awkwardly next to each other.

"I have a feeling that the two of you need to talk about something, hmm?" I asked, winking at Ivan.

Realizing what I meant, Ivan's eyes widened. "Oh,um…I…uh…." He stammered and quickly looked away, playing with his fingers in a gesture of timidness that was just so cute that I couldn't resist giggling.

"Okay than, we'll try this a different way. Ladybug!" I called, causing the hero to turn around. "Can I see that paper, please?" I pointed to the akuamtized paper.

Ladybug glanced down at the paper, then realization, and a smile, broke out on her face. "Sure!" She trotted over and passed the paper to me.

"Mylene, since Ivan can't seem to find his voice right now, why don't you just read what he has to say?" I said, placing the paper, really Ivan's song, into Mylene's hands before stepping back.

As I rejoined Ladybug and Chat Noir, Mylene read the words on the page. A moment later, she looked up and grinned. "Wow, it's really beautiful! It's a shame you can't hear them when you scream…uh I mean…heh heh, when you sing" Mylene quickly corrected herself.

"It was scary, wasn't it? Was that why you left?" Ivan asked.

Mylene didn't answer, but I could tell from the look on her face that it probably was.

Ivan turned back to Mylene. "I'm sorry, I'll be gentle" He says in a soft voice.

I chuckled as Mylene grinned and threw her arms around Ivan, causing the larger boy to freeze and his cheeks to turn red. "You're right, Ladybug. They are _so_ made for each other"

"Kind of like us two. You know we really work well together Ladyb…" I turned to see Chat Noir place a hand on Ladybug's shoulder, but her earrings started beeping, cutting off chat Noir's sentence.

"Uh oh, you hear that? Time to split. See you soon, Chat Noir" Ladybug lassoed a support beam of the Tower with her Yo-yo. "Bye, Ermine!" She waved at me before swinging away.

"Can't wait Milady" I saw Chat Noir playfully bow in Ladybug's direction before turning to leave.

I grabbed his 'tail' suddenly, causing him to stop and look at me. "Hey! Don't _I_ get a compliment?" I asked, batting my eyelashes at Chat Noir and giving him a little pout.

Chat Noir chuckled and bowed to me. "Oh but of course! It was a pleasure to work with you as well, Miss Ermine".

Now I chuckled. "The pleasure was all mine, Mr. Chat Noir. We simply _must_ do this again some time". I said in a snooty voice, pretending to curtsey in response.

As we both laughed, Chat Noir's ring started beeping. "Okay, it sounds like you need to get out of he-oh…!" A chirping sound made me look down to see part of my belt buckle was flashing. "Looks like I need to as well! See you around Chat Noir!"

"See you around Ermine!" Chat Noir waved at me before leaping away. I watched him go, and sighed happily before using my whip to swing away in the direction Ladybug had gone.

After going about several blocks from the Eiffel Tower, I ducked into an alleyway near the hotel and transform back into Alice. I approach the hotel, waving at the doorman.

"Alice, your father is waiting upstairs for you" The doorman said as I moved past him.

I gave a small wince as I remembered how I had promised my father to remain in school. No doubt he was wondering where I had been.

Sure enough, when I arrived on the floor where our family rooms were, I found my father standing in the hallway, his hands on his hips, his face set in a stern expression. Chloe stood beside him, looking smug.

"Alice! Where have you been?" My father demanded as I stepped out of the elevator.

"Busted!" Chloe crowed, causing me to frown at her.

"I told you to stay at school!" My father ignored Chloe, "And yet when I called there to check on you, I was told you had left. Explain yourself!"

"Well I…I was just…" I paused, trying to recall the story I had quickly come up with on the elevator ride up, which was a modified version of the truth. "Yes, I know I shouldn't have left school, daddy. But I…I…I wanted to see if I could find a way to help Chloe"

I saw surprise appear on the faces of both my father and sister as I continued. "And I know what you're going to say dad. 'Leave that to the police, or the superheroes', but you weren't _there_ dad! You didn't see the way Stoneheart was looking at Chloe and me. I seriously felt like I was dead meat! If Chloe hadn't been in the way, he would have…!" I bit my lip and looked at my feet, sniffling a little. "I just…I just _had_ to do something!" I said, making my voice choke up, giving the appearance I was on the verge of crying. It was a trick I had seen my mother use to garner sympathy from other people. How ironic that something I had watched _her_ do was saving my bacon now!

I suddenly felt my father's hand gently land up on my shoulder. I looked up to see him smiling at me. "I understand Alice" He said softly.

"You...you do?" I gave a loud sniff. I saw Chloe scoff quietly behind me.

"Yes, and it was very noble of you to try to help your sister. But in the future, you need to leave such dangerous matters to the police, or to our new super heroes, understood?"

"Don't worry dad, I won't be making _that_ mistake again" I threw my arms around my father and hugged him, smirking at the outraged look on Chloe's face.

"Very good. Now, I need to make an addressment to the city. Stay out of trouble you two, alright?"

"Okay daddy" I moved to stand next to Chloe and smiled and waved as our father strode to the elevator.

When the door closed, Chloe whirled to frame me with a glare. "I cannot believe daddy actually bought that ridiculous story!" She exclaimed.

"Why Chloe! What_ever_ are you talking about?" I asked in pretend shock.

"Don't give me that!" Chloe snarled. "You may have weaseled your way out of trouble this time, but _you're_ the reason that Stone-thingy grabbed me. We _both_ know he was reaching for _you_ instead!"

Though I kept my innocent expression, my heart seemed to sink as I realized that, in a way, Chloe was right. There was a very good chance that Stoneheart would have grabbed _me_ instead if Chloe hadn't caught his attention. "What are you implying, Chloe?" I asked.

"Just watch your step, Alice. You were bad enough when I only saw you during the holidays, but you're in _my_ city now!" Chloe snarled before stalking to her room. I waited till her door was closed before proceeding to mine.

"Wow, _that_ was impressive! Pretty quick thinking on that excuse!" Minkk exclaimed as I closed the door to my bedroom and wandered over to my bed.

"Well, it _was_ mostly the truth" I admitted as I plopped down on my bed.

"Sometimes adding a little truth can make a lie more believable" Minkk said, floating over. She paused when she noticed a sad look on my face. "What's wrong? Did Chloe's warning upset you?"

"No, it's…it's nothing" I say, rolling over on my side, facing the window.

"Is it about Chat Noir?" Minkk asked teasingly. I felt my breath catch in my throat as I rolled over to face her.

"What's _he_ got to do with anything?" I ask, a little too forcefully.

"Well, I'm just saying that, based on the banter that occurred between you two earlier, I thought you might have…_feelings_ for him." Minkk giggled.

"Oh, please!" I scoffed as I sit up, though I felt my cheeks heat up. "That is _completely_ ridiculous!"

Minkk suddenly gasped, her eyes wide. "You _do_ have feelings for him! I can see it in your eyes!"

"No, I don't!" I say, a little too quickly as I feel my entire face heat up.

"Then why are you blushing?" Minkk asked triumphantly, causing me to clap my hands over my warm cheeks.

_It couldn't be true! I don't have feelings for Chat Noir! I can't! He's…just a teammate! And also, he's in love with Ladybug! He practically told me so!_ I put my hands down and shook my head firmly. "I. Am. Not. In. Love. With. Chat. Noir!" I said firmly with each shake.

"Are you _sure?"_ Minkk asked teasingly.

I frowned at my kwamia nd firmly nodded my head. Inter-team romances _always_ lead to trouble! I'd read enough novels and comic books to know that! No! I _did_ _not_ have a crush on Chat Noir! He's just a…valued partner! Who's brave, funny,… and he looks _really_ cute in his costume…

"AHA!" Minkk suddenly cried out.

"EEP!" I yelped as I suddenly realized I had said that last part _out loud!_

"I _knew_ it!" Minkk crowed triumphantly. "I thought maybe you were just playing with him earlier, but you really _do_ have a crush on him! Oh, that is _so_ romantic! The heroine, secretly pining for her partner's attention, driven by a secret, overpowering love that her partner doesn't even know exists!" The kwami looked so overjoyed that, despite having been caught, I couldn't stay angry with her and giggled, despite myself.

"What am I going to do, Minkk?" I groaned as I flopped back down on my bed. "I've only met him twice and yet I…."

"…And yet you simply _can't_ stop thinking about him!" Minkk teased before zipping away giggling as I tried to catch her. Despite everything, I was grinning broadly.

Sure, I had only just met Chat Noir, but there was something about him that just seemed to draw me in. Was it his bravery? His lame jokes? Or…how handsome he was? I wasn't entirely sure, but I couldn't wait to find out!

The next morning, I woke up feeling refreshed, even excited. During the night, I had had a serious talk with Minkk about my 'crush' on Chat Noir. I was really worried that the feelings I had for him, and the feelings _he_ had for Ladybug, could lead to trouble down the road.

Minkk proves to be a very good listener when she wanted to be. She didn't interrupt me as I voice my theories and fears, and then she told me that if Chat Noir and I are truly meant to be, things would work themselves out.

Everyone seemed more relaxed this morning, compared to yesterday. The staff were all smiling, and Chloe was chatting happily with Sabrina at the breakfast table, rather than looking at her phone. My father was actually humming a little as he ate, which struck me as amusing.

When we arrived at school, I followed Chloe and Sabrina to class, and was surprised to see Marinette and Alya sitting where Chloe and Sabrina had sat the other day.

"Uhh, you two are in the wrong seat! Go on, get lost!" Chloe pointed to the empty seats closest to the front.

Marinette didn't move, she simply smiled and said "All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good people do nothing"

I felt a grin cross my face as I recognized the quote from Majestra, having heard her say that personally a few years ago.

"Um, what is _that_ supposed to mean?" Chloe asked snootily.

Now Marinette stood up. "It means that I'm not going to put up with your crud anymore Chloe, and neither is anyone else around here, so take your bad attitude and go on, get lost!" Marinette pointed to the empty seats.

The classroom erupted with laughter and I chuckled to myself. It looked like Ladybug wasn't the only person who had done a complete persona 180.

Chloe scowled, but apparently recognized there was nothing she could do, so she eventually moved to sit where Marinette had sat yesterday, with Sabrina right behind her.

"Good job!" As I started to climb the steps to my seat, I heard Alya congratulate Marinette.

"I'll say" I added, smiling at Marinette. "I can count on one hand the number of people I've seen stand up to Chloe like that"

Marinette just scowled at me and turned away. _Seriously_? I helped save Paris but I can't save my friendship with Marinette? I fought the urge to groan as I moved to the back of the room to sit next to Nathaniel, but paused when Ivan waved to get my attention.

"Hey uh, Alice?"

"Yes, Ivan?"

"I uh…I wanted to thank you. For…um…the idea you gave me yesterday, to write a song for Mylene to show her how I feel. She really liked it"

I gave Ivan a warm smile and patted him on his shoulder. "Ivan it was _you_ who came up with the idea to write Mylene a song, remember? I just supported it"

"I did?" Ivan looked surprised, which made me chuckle.

"Yes, you did. I only gave you a nudge, but the rest was all _you_." I smiled and continued back to sit next to Nathaniel, who nodded and smiled at me. I wondered if he had overheard my conversation with Ivan.

As I sat down, I saw Marinette and Alya whispering to each other. Both broke off and looked up at me. I looked away, feeling my smile slide off my face. What had they been talking about?

That afternoon, when classes ended, I had lagged behind to speak to Miss Bustier, and when I finally got to the front gates, I didn't see our limo anywhere. I groaned. It looked like Chloe and Sabrina had taken off without me.

As I stood there, I heard a sudden rumbling above me and looked up to see that it had started to rain.

"Oh great" I grumbled, turning away from the street, only to come face-to-face with Marinette. "Oh… um… hi" I gave a small wave.

Marinette didn't even look at me, she just walked past me, and put her hand out to see how hard it was raining.

I sighed, shook my head, and started to walk away.

"Wait!" I jumped a little when I felt a hand suddenly wrap around my wrist. I turned to see Adrien standing there, and he had his other hand wrapped around Marinette's wrist.

Marinette looked equally surprised as I felt, but she didn't try to pull away.

"Look, I've never been to school before." Adrian said as he let the both of us go. "It's all so… new to me. But one thing I already know about school is that it's a lot more fun with friends."

"What are you saying?" I asked, raising my eyebrow.

"What I'm saying is that…I've already made friends here, Alice, and I want you to do the same." Adrien looked from me to Marinette. "Look, Alice really _was_ trying to get the chewing gum _off_ your seat, Marinette. If you don't trust her word, trust mine. I may be 'friends with Chloe', as you put it, but I've known Alice for just as long, even though we grew up in different cities. So trust me when I tell you, Alice is _not_ like Chloe. Not even close"

Marinette frowned thoughtfully, then slowly turned to look at me.

"I…I overheard what you and Ivan were saying. Did you _really_ encourage him to write a song for Mylene?" She said hesitantly, as if expecting me to start laughing at her any second.

I nodded. "It seemed clear that the two of them had feelings for each other, one of them just needed to work up the courage to approach the other." I said simply. "And like I said in class, I only gave Ivan a brief nudge, he did the rest of the work _himself_"

Marinette nodded, and to my relief, a smile appeared on her face. "I guess I…might have…jumped to conclusions…about you" She admitted sheepishly.

I felt my own smile widen. "It's fine. I'm actually used to it. Back home, I was just known as Audrey's daughter. Here I'm just…Chloe's sister" I said, making all three of us chuckle.

"Oh, come on. Chloe's not _that_ bad" Adrien gently argued.

"Easy for _you_ to say!" I snapped back playfully. "_You_ don't have to live with her!"

My outburst made Adrien chuckle. "Point taken" He admitted, the he looked up at the sky as thunder boomed overhead. He looked at me, then down at his umbrella. "Here, I think you'll need this more than we will" He held it out to Marinette, who blinked in surprise for a moment, then slowly reached out and took the umbrella, her fingers brushing against his as she did so. For a moment, the two of them just stood there, looking at each other. Then, for some reason, the umbrella suddenly closed on top of Marinette's head.

Adrien and I both stared, then we burst out laughing. Marinette peaked out from under the umbrella, and she started laughing too.

Our giggle spree ended when we heard a car horn and looked to see Adrien's car on the street, waiting for him.

"See you both tomorrow" Adrien waved as he headed to his car.

"See you tomorrow!" I called after him.

"Uh...see you…to…mo…tomo…" Marinette stammered, causing me to laugh. "Wow, why am I stammering like this?"

"Hmmm, I think _I_ may have an idea" I teased, making a heart-shape with my hands. Marinette blushed when she saw it.

"Hey relax girl, I was just teasing!" I chuckled, placing a hand on Marinette's shoulder.

Marinette seemed to sigh with relief. "Hey um…I really am sorry for what I said, about you being like Chloe. You may be Chloe's sister, but you're _nothing_ like her"

"Why, Marinette!" I gasped theatrically. "I think that is…probably the nicest thing anyone has ever said to me!" I sniffled dramatically, causing her to laugh.

"Well anyway. I'll see you tomorrow" I nodded at Marinette before stepping out into the rain.

"Hey wait!" I turned to see Marinette gazing at me with wide eyes. "You're walking home, in _this_ weather, with no umbrella?"

I shrugged "Well, I don't really mind, and I _also_ don't really have a choice, seeing as how Chloe must have told our driver to go off without me"

Marinette frowned, then suddenly brightened. "Hey, I don't live too far from here. You want to come to my place and wait out the rain?"

I blinked for a moment, then smiled. "Sure, I'd love to!"

"Great" Marinette dashed down the steps and held the umbrella up over the both of us.

"Why bother? I'm already wet" I chuckled.

Marinette smiled back. "I know, but that's what friends are supposed to do, right?" She said as she began leading me towards a building on the next block.

"Yeah, I guess you're right" I said to her, and as I walked, I glanced down and saw Minkk peaking out from the pouch on my bag strap. She winked at me and I felt my smile grow wider still.

* * *

**And Cut! **

**I'm starting a big class tomorrow so I figured I should get this updated now while I still have some free time. I don't know if or when I'll be able to update again, so like I said before, if you want this story continued and not put on hiatus, keep those comments coming! My thanks to katmar1994, Jane the fan, and rebekahpsweatman81 for their comments, they're what got this chapter done! **

**Oh, and just FYI, I may be switching around the order of certain episodes if I decide to continue with this story. I think that this would help the story, as a whole, flow better. Just giving you fair warning. **

**Until Next Time! **


	3. Chapter 3

Miraculous Weasel CH 3: **Stormy Weather**

"_Welcome to the final of our KIDZ+ competition! Today, one lucky winner will be announced as our brand new KIDZ+ weather girl! We started off with 5000 contestants. But with the help of our audience at home, we've whittled our talent down to just two amazing ladies! So, let's meet our fantastic finalists now! To my right, the beautiful Aurore Beaureal, and to my left, the lovely Mireille Caquet! Who will be our lucky winner? Vote now! Text 1 for Aurore and 2 for Mireille!_"

"Hmmm, good question" I mused to myself as I gazed down at my phone, where Alec Cadalti was broadcasting the finals for a contest that had been going on for the past week. I felt my seat shudder as the bus rumbled through the morning traffic. I was on my way to meet Adrien, who had asked me to come provide moral support for him during a photo shoot he would be doing today at the park. Why he needed moral support from _me_ for something he did practically every day, I couldn't begin to guess, but I had decided to humor him anyway, mainly because it had been so long since the two of us had spent time together, even if it meant watching him prance and pose for hours.

I giggled to myself as I felt the bus come to a stop. I looked up and saw that this was the stop I needed, so I got up from my seat and darted out the doors when they opened.

"Hmm, Aurore or Mirielle?" I pondered as I started slowly walking down the street towards the park entrance, still gazing at my phone at the two choices who stood flanking Alec. Aurore was a blonde girl with a confident smile who carried a parasol and seemed perfectly at home in front of the camera. Mirielle had dark hair and her smile and body posture betrayed a somewhat reserved personality that made her look rather shy. I did a quick check into the profiles and backgrounds of both contestants and finally decided on Mireille.

After sending my choice via text, I tucked my phone back into my jeans and looked up to find myself at the park gates. Stepping in, my eyes swept the small park, running over the trees, the merry-go-round, and the multiple benches and lamp-posts before finally spotting Adrien near the park fence.

As I moved towards him, I saw that the photo shoot had already begun. The photographer was dancing around Adrien, taking pictures and exclaiming in bizarre phrases as Adrien leaned casually against one of the trees. Shaking my head at the man's silliness, I found a shady spot to watch where I wouldn't be in the way and leaned against a tree, my arms crossed and a small smile painted on my face as I watch Adrien pose for the camera.

Adrien was apparently so 'busy' getting his model on, that it took him ten minutes to notice me, but when he finally did, his face brightened up a little and he gave me a small wave. As I waved back, the photographer laughed out loud. "Yes! Wonderful! Let me see the boy wave at his mama!"

I clapped a hand over my mouth to smother my giggling as Adrien gave me an embarassed grin. I felt my phone vibrate in my pocket and pulled it out.

Unlocking the screen, I saw a text from Alya:

_Hey girl. What's up?_

I felt my smile curve into a wicked grin as a sudden idea struck me. I raised my phone and silently took a picture of Adrien posing. I sent it to Alya along with the message:

_Just…enjoying the view at the park._

I chuckled to myself as I hit _send_. Knowing Alya, she would forward it to Marinette. My hunch about her had been right. It had only been a week since Stoneheart's attack, but Marinette had already developed a complete love-crush on Adrien. She couldn't even be in the same room as him without getting nervous, and you could just _forget_ about getting her to speak to him! There was _no_ way Marinette could _ever_ finish a complete sentence with Adrien around.

My smile faded slightly as I sat down under the tree. As much as I enjoyed teasing Marinette about her crush, I genuinely felt happy for her and truly wanted the two of them to get together. Adrian was a great guy who deserved a girlfriend who loved him for who he really was, not for how famous he was, as I suspected was the case with Chloe. My sister, who was _still_ madly in love with Adrien, had been trying to dominate Adrien's free time, and surprisingly, Adrian had not made much of an effort to stop her. I had warned Adrien that Chloe was using him, but he had only found Chloe's efforts humorous, and waved off my concerns.

I sighed and shook my head. Sometimes I couldn't believe how naïve Adrien could be, but I guess that was to be expected when you've been sheltered by an overprotective parent for most of your life. He needed a dose of reality and I believed Marinette was just the person to give it to him. I was determined to bring Adrien and Marinette together! So far my efforts had been in vain, mainly due to Marinette's awkwardness and Adrien's unawareness, but I wasn't giving up yet.

"Hey Alice!" Adrien's voice made me look up. But he wasn't there anymore.

"Over here!" I looked around and finally saw him waving at me from the fountain in the center of the park.

"Looking good, Adrien!" I waved back at him.

"Could you come over here for a moment?" Adrien called, beckoning to me.

I blinked in surprise, but then shrugged and stepped out from under the tree and headed towards him.

As I approached the fountain, I saw the photographer turn to look at me. His eyes ran up and down my body, like he was appraising me, and I bit my lip as a sudden thought struck me.

"Well Vincent, what do you think?" Adrien asked as I came up to them, and there was a mischievous glint in his eye.

_Oh no! Adrien, you didn't!_ I groaned mentally as the photographer moved around me, observing me under an eagle eye.

"That luscious hair, those shining eyes, I have seen them before, but where?" He muttered as he continued his inspection.

Adrien chuckled. "Oh, come on Vincent, sure you remember Alice Bourgeois, the daughter of Audrey Bourgeois"

_Adrien, don't!_ I pleaded silently, desperately shaking my head at him.

Vincent let out a squeal of glee that caused me to roll my eyes. "Grazia, the son of the fashion king and the daughter of the style queen! This is too good to be true!" Giggling like a school-girl, he seized my hand and began to lead me towards the fountain.

"Woah there, buddy!" I yanked my hand out of his grasp. "What do you think you're doing?" I asked, even though I was _pretty_ certain I knew what his answer was going to be.

"Um…getting you up next to Adrien for the photoshoot." Vincent looked a little confused at my outburst. "I can't very well shoot the two of you if you aren't next to each other"

_I knew it!_ My gaze snapped to Adrian, who shifted uneasily on his feet. "Adrien…" I said slowly, my voice becoming a mixture of annoyance and frustration, with a hint of betrayal. "I thought you invited me here to _watch_ a photo shoot, not to be _in_ a photoshoot!" Adriene shrank down a little at my tone.

"Sorry Alice...I...I just thought that it would be a great chance for us to hang out together" Adrien replied, straightening up. "We've done so little of that since you moved to Paris."

I crossed my arms. "'Adrien, It's only been a week. I'm still getting settled in, and besides, from what Chloe's told me, you're not exactly the best when it comes to scheduling."

"Which is why I thought it would be great if you joined me here" Adrien's face lit up with a n eager look. "That way we can hang out and I don't have to disappoint my father"

"But we can still hang out _without_ me being in front of the camera, Adrien!" I reminded him.

Adrien's eager expression faded a little. "Alice, you're not still upset over what happened last time, are you?"

I frowned as Adrien's words caused memories to resurface in my head. Growing up as the daughter of a famous style critic, I had attended my share of fashion shows and had even modeled in a couple, at my mother's insistence. All those who I had modeled for said I was a natural. They said I walked the catwalk like a goddess, whatever _that_ meant, and a lot of people were disappointed when I decided to stop modeling, about two years before I had moved to Paris. When they had asked me why, I simply told them that I didn't feel it was a good fit for me.

"Adrien, you _know_ how I feel about modeling" I scolded shaking my head. Personally, it wasn't modelling itself that I didn't like, it was the fact that it reminded me of my mom, who had attended every one of my photoshoots when I was younger, and she had always been making exclamations and demands, and throwing such a huge hissy fit whenever those demands were not met, embarrassing me on multiple occasions, especially on my very last session, which had been one of the reasons why the two of us were so distant from each other now. My mother had pretty much ruined the modeling experience for me.

Adrien shook his head. "Come on Alice, don't put down modeling as a whole just because you had some bad experiences when you were younger. That was then, and this will be different, I promise"

"How can you be so sure?" I asked, narrowing my eyes.

"Well, for one thing..." Adrien's smile became cheeky. "Your best critic isn't around to complain!"

Despite my anger, I felt the corner of my mouth curve into a grateful smile. It was through my brief modeling career that I had first met Adrien, and the two of us had posed together in several photoshoots back in those days. Adrien was the only person I had vented all my frustration to, the only person to know the _real_ reason I quit being a model, and I was thankful that Adrien hadn't brought this up directly in front of the photographer.

In truth, part of me _wanted_ to go up there, to pose with my best friend and look cute. But as I stood there, my mother's angry voice suddenly started ringing in my ears.

_"Honestly Alice. Stand up straight! The way you are slouching like that is ridiculous! Utterly ridiculous! The lights are all wrong! They're going to make my daughter look like she has stubble! I am SO firing the person in charge of the lighting. You! Where is my latte? I ordered one ten minutes ago! You're fired! _

Shaking my head to clear away the sound of my mother's voice, I took a step back. "I...I don't know, Adrien" I said in a small voice.

Adrien groaned and shook his head before flashing me a warm smile. "Come on, Alice. You're a natural model. Everyone knows it!" He urged.

"Adrien!" I groaned, shooting him a dark look.

"What? It's true!" Adrien's smile was becoming annoying. "I think so. My father thinks so. My mother thought so. Don't you think so, Vincent?" Adrien turned to the photographer, who nodded enthusiastically. "Even my bodyguard thinks you'd be good, right?" He looked at the burly man, who was already smiling and nodding, though I wasn't sure if he really thought that way, or if he was just following Adrien's orders.

Adrien grinned triumphantly as he turned back to me. "Come on Alice, one more time won't kill you!" When I didn't move, Adrien's smile faded and he sighed. "Okay, let's try this. If you do this for me, Alice, I'll do something for you. Whatever you want, whenever you want it, just name it. You have my word"

_Whatever I want? __Whenever I want it?_ My eyes lit up as an idea began to take shape in my mind. I knew Adrien well enough to know that Adrien's word was his bond, and that kind of promise could _definitely_ come in handy in the future.

_Do it! You know you want to!_ A tiny voice seemed whisper in my ear, and for a second I thought with alarm that Minkk, my kwami, was loose, but when I looked around, I didn't see her.

Looking back to see three sets of longing eyes gazing at me, silently pleading, I felt my iron resolve weaken further. Adrien's eyes were practically puppy dog eyes, and he _knew_ I had a hard time resisting those!

Finally, I sighed in defeat. "All right. I'll do it!"

"Grazie, Miss Bourgeois!" Vincent happily seized my hand and pulled me over to the fountain.

"If nothing else, it'll tick Chloe off a little" I muttered under my breath. Just this morning, my sister had been gloating at breakfast about the new designer clothes that our father had ordered, upon her request, from Mr. Agreste's producers and how she was _certain_ that they were going to impress Adrien. I had jokingly asked my dad why he hadn't ordered any clothes for me as well, only for him to reply that Chloe had said I hadn't wanted any. Realizing that Chloe hadn't even wanted to include me, I had glared at my sister, who had simply smirked at me from across the table.

Yeah, being in a photoshoot with the boy of Chloe's dreams would _definitely_ make us even.

"So, what exactly do you want me to do?" I asked as I joined Adrien on the fountain.

"We're just doing poses, that's all" Adrien said.

"Oh joy" I muttered sarcastically as Vincent began fiddling with his camera.

"Thanks for agreeing to this Alice, I've really missed working with you" Adrien placed a hand on my shoulder.

"Really?" I looked at him in surprise.

"Yeah, you were a _far_ better model than Chloe was, remember?" Adrien smiled at me and I giggled, remembering how our parents had once tried to put me and my sister on the same stage as Adrien at a fashion show. Adrien's father had deemed Chloe 'too clingy' because she had refused to let go of Adrien and she had stormed off in a huff, but me, he had liked, and I had actually ended up having a good time, especially when my mother had been called out of the room by Mrs. Agreste.

"I remember" I said, and felt a smile cross my face as Vincent started shooting pictures. Any unease I felt suddenly seemed to leave me, I felt strangely... at home.

At first the shots were simple, mostly ones of me standing next to Adrien in various poses, but eventually Vincent began calling for more complex ones, like a shot of me leaping off of the fountain into Adrien's arms, and then a shot of the two of us walking along the edge of the fountain like we were on a balance beam, followed by a shot of the two of us sitting back-to-back, shyly looking at each other over our shoulders.

"Bravo, that's it!" Vincent shouted. "Give me the smile when your mama brings in the spaghetti!"

I bit my lip to contain my laughter at this guy's antics. "This guy is crazy!" I muttered out of the corner of my mouth. During my short-lived modeling career, one trick I had picked up was how to speak clearly while barely moving my lips. It wasn't perfect, but it allowed me to effectively communicate with people around me while the cameras were flashing. Adrien could do it too, to the point where both of us could have long conversations to help pass the time we spent in front of the cameras.

"Okay! And now, Oh no! Mama has dropped the spaghetti! And now, you must eat the spaghetti off the floor! Oh yes, you are angry! Show me angry! Yes!" The photographer continued to rant.

I heard Adrien chuckle. "He's just enthusiastic, but he's really great to work with."

"No kidding" I muttered as we shifted poses to face each other.

"So, does that mean you're having fun?" Adrien winked at me, his face sporting a cat-like grin that made me giggle.

"Maybe" I gave Adrien a small smile.

As the photographer's camera whirred and clicked, I suddenly spotted three faces peering out from behind a tree. Alya, Marinette, and a younger girl I didn't know. My smile widened when I saw them, but faded when I noticed the angry look on Marinette's face. Granted, I wasn't very surprised to see it. I had lured her here to give her a chance to hang out with Adrien, and now she finds me in a photo shoot with the boy she likes. I had to fix this!

"Psst, Adrien." I whisper as we changed poses to stand back to back. "Alya and Marinette, at your 2:00."

I saw Adrien glance towards where the girls were. "Huh, I wonder what they're doing here" He whispered a second later.

"I... may or may not have invited them to come watch the phot shoot with me." I said quietly as we changed poses again, this one having Adrien sit down and I lean on his shoulders. "Of course, this was before I knew I what _you_ were planning. Marinette doesn't look too happy, does she?"

"Why would she be unhappy?" Adrien murmured as we set up a shot with our arms around each other like we were dancing a waltz.

"I…think she might be jealous. I invited them to hang out with me and here you've pretty much stolen me away from them" I couldn't help but giggle at the concept and Adrien chuckled.

"Yeah, you're probably right. I'll have to talk to them next time we have a break" Adrien said and I smiled as Adrien twirled me for the camera. As I returned to the starting position, I saw Marinette, Alya, and the young girl walking by, or at least Alya and the girl were walking, Marinette, on the other hand, was doing some sort of weird strut.

I try my best not to laugh, but end up failing miserably. I see Marinette stop and shoot me a glare.

"What's so funny?" Adrien asked.

"B..behind you" I giggle. Adrien turns to see the girls behind her. At his gaze, Marinette snaps to attention, her glare being replaced with a panicked smile and she waves.

Adrien chuckled and waved back. "She doesn't look jealous to me"

"Of course she doesn't, not while _you're_ looking" I teased before an angry exclamation made both of us look up to see Vincent glaring at us.

We both grinned apologetically and he resumed shooting.

"I mean what I said Alice. I'm really glad you could join me on this photo shoot" Adrien muttered after a few minutes. "Shoots are a lot more fun when it's not just me"

"If you're trying to get me to consider modelling full time Adrian, forget it" I replied softly.

"Come on Alice, at least think about it" Adrien urged.

I let out a small sigh. True, part of me _was_ enjoying myself. Maybe I _should_ consider it.

"I'll think about it" I said, and had to force down a giggle when I saw Adrien beaming.

"Marinette!" A sudden loud exclamation made us loop up to see the little girl with Marinette and Alya was tugging on Marinette's leg and pointing towards a nearby balloon stand. "I wanna get a balloon with Mirielle on it! Can I? Can I? Marinette!" She wailed.

"Ngh! Silenzio!" Vincent snapped, turning towards the girls. Adrien's bodyguard put down the light he was holding and moved towards the trio.

I heard Alya try to persuade the girl to go with her, the girl stubbornly refusing, clinging onto Marinette's leg.

After looking at the photographer and Adrien's bodyguard, both glaring in her direction, Marinette shook her head at Aly and 'hobbled off' towards a nearby balloon stand, with the girl still clinging to her leg.

"But what about Adrien?" I heard Alya call after her and I smiled as an idea came to me.

As the bodyguard came back over and Vincent readied his camera again, I let out a moan and leaned against Adrien.

"Hey Vincent, can we take a break? I'm dying of thirst here!" I whined, giving Adrien a quick nudge.

Adrien got the hint. "Yeah, me too. Can't we take five, Vincent?"

Vincent groaned, but finally nodded. "Five minutes, no more!" He barked before turning away.

Sighing with relief, I stepped off the fountain and made my way towards Alya, who had a teasing smirk on her face.

"Hey Alice" Alya greeted me. "Funny, when you invited us down here to watch the photoshoot, I never expected to find you _in_ it"

I chuckled. "Well, that's a coincidence, Alya, because until ten minutes ago, neither had _I_!"

"Oh?" Alya raised an eyebrow.

I sighed. "Adrien roped me into this by inviting me to come and provide him with 'moral support'" I accented the last two words with my fingers. "The next thing I know, He's convinced me to go up there and pose with him!"

"Ah" Alya nodded. "So, he suckered you"

"Oh, yeah, I'm a world class sucker" I said dramatically, crossing my arms.

"Well, Marinette's gonna be happy to hear that" Alya winked at me and I giggled.

"Good, 'cause I really don't want Marinette mad at me" I said, looking at Marinette and the little girl. "So, who's the kid?"

"She's Manon, her mother's a friend of Marinette's mom, and Marinette offered to watch her the _whole_ afternoon." Alya explained.

I smirked. "Let me guess, she just…"

"Couldn't…say…no!" Alya and I chorused before laughing together.

A loud laugh made them look up to see Manon running towards the merry-go-round, with Marinette in hot pursuit.

"Manon huh? Well, she sure sounds like a real angel" I commented dryly.

"Oh yeah, she's all sugar and spice, at least when mommy's around" Alya added, making the both of us giggle as Marinette finally grabbed Manon by the arm and began speaking to her. Barely a minute later, however, Manon began dragging Marinette towards the Merry-Go-Round.

"Wow, Marinette really _is_ a pushover" I commented.

Alya chuckled. "Manon probably gave her the baby-doll eyes. Marinette can't resist the baby-doll eyes" I giggled in agreement. "Just like _you_ can't resist the puppy dog eyes!" _That_ made me stop laughing, but Aly aonly laughed harder at the dark look I shot at her.

"Miss Bougeois!" The both of us looked up to see Vincent looking at me. "Five minutes is up! Quickly, before we lose the light!" He motioned back to the fountain, where Adrien was already waiting.

I let out a groan, making Alya chuckle again. "Tell Marinette that I didn't set this up, will you?"

"Sure thing" Alya nodded as I dashed back towards the fountain.

"So, did you sort things out with Marintte and Alya" Adrien asked.

"Kinda" I answered as we began posing again.

The photoshoot continued, but there was a definite change in the mood. I was starting to feel...distracted. Several times I ruined shots because I wasn't paying attention. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Adrien was having the same problem.

"Argh! No, No!" Vincent finally exclaimed. "The children have eaten too much spaghetti! We need more energy, more romance!" He rubbed his forehead.

I blinked. _Romance?_ What did Vincent mean by that?

"Aha! I have it!" Vincent said a minute later. "Miss Alice, I want you to swoon!"

I froze, my eyes wide. "Excuse me?" I asked in disbelief.

Vincent cackled like an excited schoolgirl. "Yes, imagine that your boyfriend has professed his undying love for you. You are so happy that you cannot stand up, so you fall into his strong arms!"

My jaw dropped as I felt a blush creep its way onto my cheeks. Sure, I may be enjoying posing in front of the camera right now, but I have standards, and acting like a complete ditz, even when it was pretend, was _not_ one of them.

"Uh maybe we could try _another_ scene Vincent. Maybe one a little less dramatic" I heard Adrien suggest and I shot him a grateful look.

"Thanks" I whispered as Vince resumed his thinking.

"No problem. I know that you're not that kind of girl" Adrien winked at me

"Oh?" I chuckled "And just what kind of girl do you think I am, Adrikens?" I said, using Chloe's pet name for him.

"Uh, not you too" Adrien muttered, making me laugh.

"Come on, it's not _that_ bad" I teased. "At least my sister isn't calling you Adrilicious" I chuckled at my new creation. "Actually, you know what? That _does_ flow off the tongue a little better. Don't you think?"

"Very funny" Adrien gave me a look, but I could tell he was enjoying himself as well.

A sudden loud scream made us look around to see that a giant globe of ice had sprung up form out of nowhere, encasing the merry-go-round in an icy dome. Narrowing my eyes, I could just make out someone inside the dome. Wait, hadn't Marinette taken off in that direction?

A loud cackling drew my gaze skyward. Hovering above the merry-go-round was a girl with purple hair wearing a black dress and a similar-colored mask carrying a parasol.

I frowned thoughtfully; this girl looked familiar somehow.

"Alice, we've gotta get out of here!" Adrien exclaimed.

"Okay, um...let's split up! Do hide somewhere and I'll do the same!" I said, breaking away from Adrien and rushing to a strand of nearby trees. I ducked behind them as Minkk appeared out of my purse. "Time to go to work" I said to Minkk who nodded back. "Minkk, Showtime!" I transformed into Ermine, then peered out behind the trees. I saw Ladybug had already arrived on the scene and was investigating the icy dome. The girl responsible was floating towards the park gates, blasting at people with lightning from her parasol.

Growling, I rushed towards the girl, but Chat Noir suddenly appeared on the park fence as the girl passed through the gate.

"Hey Ice Queen! What's with all the terrorizing? Why don't you pick on someone your own temperature?" He called as I leapt onto the fence on the other side of the gate from where Chat Noir was.

"My name is not Ice Queen! It's Stormy Weather!" The girl yelled back.

"Oh really?" I broke in, making the girl spin around to face me as I leapt over the gate to join Chat Noir. "Coulda fooled me, Icy! Especially considering the cold shoulder you gave those people on the Merry-Go-Round back there!"

"My name is not Icy! It's Stormy Weather!" Stormy Weather shouted.

"Okay, Okay! We heard you the first time, sheesh!" I shook my head before giving Chat Noir a _Can-you-believe-this?_ expression. Boy, this girl _really_ had an attitude!

Chat Noir smiled at me before sliding down the fence to the ground. "Listen, I'm _feline_ more generous than usual today" He said, swinging his 'tail' in circles. "So just cool down, and we'll call it quits, K?"

I shook my head and chuckled at the deadpan look on Stormy Weather's face. She opened her parasol and suddenly the both of us were blasted by a monster current of cold air. Though to me, it actually felt pretty good temperature-wise, I guess there _are_ some perks to having fur.

Unfortunately, though I gripped the fence with all my strength, the current of air was so strong that I was soon sent flying along with Chat Noir. Remembering my gymnastics training, I quickly took note of my surroundings, unsnapped my whip, and lassoed a nearby lamp post. Tugging on my whip, I was able to land on my feet.

Chat Noir was not so lucky. He hit a few cars in a ping-pong style fashion before finally coming to a rest sprawled on the asphalt.

"Are you okay?" I cried out, running to his side.

"I'm fine" Chat Noir grunted as he got to his knees.

"And here I thought cats always landed on their feet" I looked up to see Ladybug land near us.

"Why thanks, M'ladybug, but we had it covered" Chat Noir said as I helped him up. He tried to kiss Ladybug's hand, which made me frown, but Ladybug noticed and pushed him back with a finger on his nose.

"No time for your childish charms, Chat Noir, but you're welcome"

"Ladybug, what happened to the people caught in the ice dome?" I asked

"They're safe, but still trapped. I couldn't cut through the ice with my yo-yo, but the fire department arrived and they're trying to cut through it" Ladybug said to me.

I let out a sigh of relief. "That's good to hear"

"Well, here's something that won't be good to hear!" I whirled around to see Stormy Weather approaching. "We should be expecting lightning storms, like right NOW!" She points her parasol to the sky. Purple energy shoots up into the sky, which instantly darkens, filling with thick, angry-looking clouds. Thunder rumbles ominously, then a bolt of purple lighting falls from the sky, right at us!

Reacting instantly, I end up tackling Chat Noir, the person closest to me. We tumbled down the street, eventually coming to rest with me on top of Chat Noir. I groaned and propped myself up, then froze as I realized where I was. For a moment, Chat Noir and I just gazed at each other.

"Um...hi" I gave him a nervous smile, feeling my face heat up. "S...sorry for..."

"Forget it. It's no big deal." Chat Noir smiled at me.

"Aww, love on the battlefield, how cute!" We looked up to see a smiling Ladybug watching us. I felt my face heat up even more as I climbed off Chat Noir so he could get to his feet. Ladybug giggled at the glare I sent her.

Chat Noir threw a similar look at Stormy Weather. "You just won yourself a catfight!" Chat Noir growled before charging at the akumatized girl.

"And _you_ just won yourself some…Black Ice!" Stormy Weather flicked her parasol, turning the street into slippery ice. Chat Noir yelped in surprise as he suddenly lost his footing. Ladybug and I jumped back, grabbing onto cars in order to maintain our footing.

Storm Weather twirled her parasol in her hands before opening it, summoning a gust of wind that sent all of us flying. I managed to grab streetlight and hung on for dear life.

Something grabbed my tail, causing me to yelp and I looked back to see Ladybug holding onto my tail with one hand and Chat Noir's tail with her other hand.

After a few minutes, the wind died down and we all collapsed on the hard concrete. I groaned as the sounds of breaking glass and car alarms reached my ears and I looked up to see that Stormy Weather had blasted a video screen as she floated away on a cushion of wind.

"A little Chat Noir will take the wind out of her sails" Chat Noir boasted as he got to his feet. He started to run after her, but Ladybug reached out and grabbed Chat Noir's tail.

"Woah there, kitty, kitty! You'd better think before you leap" She scolded playfully before letting him go.

"So, either of you got a plan?" Chat Noir asked as he petted his tail.

"Guys, we can't attack her head on..." I started to say.

"Just follow my lead" Ladybug ignored me, smiling at Chat Noir before running towards the left side of the street. She leapt up and began running along the side of the buildings towards Stormy Weather.

"Huh, I didn't know she could do that, did you?" I turned to chat Noir, only to find him imitating Ladybug's actions on the left side of the street. Sighing, I followed them, dashing down the center of the street, crouching low.

Somehow, Stormy Weather sensed us behind her and turned just as the three of us leapt at her in a three-pronged attack.

"Not you again!" Stormy Weather growled before whirling her parasol at us, summoning another gust of wind that caught all three of us in mid-air and blew us back. I unsnapped my whip and used it to lasso another light pole, catching myself. As I pulled myself up, I winced as several cars, carried up by the wind, blew past me. I turned to see my two partners dodge the incoming automobiles, chuckling at the poses Chat Noir was making as the cars nearly missed him multiple times.

I leapt over to join my partners in the center of the street.

"This isn't working." I started to say. "We have to…"

"Look Out!" Chat Noir suddenly pointed skywards and we looked up to see a bus falling towards us.

Before I could react, I felt Ladybug grab Chat Noir and me, pulling us behind her. She stood in front of us, whirling her yo-yo in a shield shape. I shut my eyes as I felt the bus crash down on top of us, expecting to be crushed, but nothing happened.

I opened my eyes to see that ladybug's yo-yo had cut a hole through the side of the bus, saving our lives. As I smiled, the yo-yo stopped spinning and fell, on my head.

"Ow!" I yelped, rubbing my head and giving Ladybug a dark look while my partner grinned sheepishly.

"Ok, _clearly_ attacking Stormy Weather head on _isn't_ the answer here" I said as I got to my feet, feeling more than a little annoyed that no one had been listening to me.

"Ermine's right, we need a new plan" Chat Noir agreed as we climbed up onto the railings on the other side of the bus

"We need to find out who Stormy Weather really is" Ladybug said as she opened a window and we climbed out. "Once we know that, we can get a better sense of where the akuma is hiding.

"Yeah, but first we have to find her, come on!" I started racing down the street in the direction we had come from, Chat Noir and Ladybug right behind me.

"Maybe she's got some unresolved anger-management issues!" Ladybug offered as we ran down the street.

"Or maybe she didn't pass her driving test" Chat Noir commented as we passed multiple damaged or overturned cars.

"I _know_ I've seen her before, but where?" I thought aloud as we ran. Something about Stormy Weather was _definitely_ familiar to me, but I couldn't quite put my finger on it.

As we ran past the damaged video screen, it suddenly flickered to life, showing a picture of Stormy Weather standing in front of a purple outline of France.

"Hello viewers!" the villain cackled. "Here's the latest forecast for the first day of summer! Looks like Mother Nature had a change of plans. Summer Vacation is officially over!"

"Already? But I look so good in a swimsuit!" Chat Nor groaned before wiggling his eyebrows at Ladybug, causing me to giggle.

"The catsuit will do, thank you" Ladybug smiled back. "At least now we know where to find her"

I frowned as I gazed up at the screen. "Yeah, but I can't help wondering if we're being set up" I commented, rubbing my chin. "I mean she's practically broadcasting to us where she is"

Ladybug and Chat Noir looked at me, then at each other.

"Well, if this is a trap, we'll just have to spring it. Come on!" Ladybug dashed towards the TV Station, with us on her heels. As we ran, thick snow started to fall and a cold wind blew past us. Thanks to the fur on my suit, I wasn't affected by the cold, but I saw Chat Noir shiver as I kept pace with him.

"You okay?" I asked.

"Just a ...little chilly" he replied, rubbing his arms as he ran.

"Too bad you don't have fur, like me" I chuckled, flicking my tail and smiling at him.

Char Noir smirked. "Maybe I should wrap you around my neck then, huh?"

I giggled at the thought, and before I could stop myself, I replied, in a slightly flirtatious manner "Maybe I should let you"

Chat Noir's eyes widened. "What?"

Realizing what I had just said, I felt a blush creep across my face. "Uh…nothing. Come on, we've got to stop Stormy Weather before she buries all of Paris in snow!" I accelerated, trying not to think about what had just happened. _Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!_ I scolded myself. Now was _not_ the time for flirting, and besides, Chat Noir was in love with Ladybug, not me!

By this point, we had reached the TV station. As we darted inside, we heard Stormy weather on the screen proclaim "Prepare for the worst weather in history!"

Ladybug and Chat Noir raced towards the back of the building, but I paused when something caught my eye a cutout standee of Aurore, one of the contestant finalists. My eyes moved from the standee, to Stormy Weather on the screen, and something clicked inside my head.

"Hey, you guys, look at this!" I called my partners back.

"What is it?" Chat Noir asked as he and Ladybug backtracked to where I was.

I motioned to a cutout standee of Aurore. "Does this girl look familiar to either of you?" I asked.

Ladybug's eyes widened as he gaze moved from the cutout to the screen. "It's her! She exclaimed.

"Oh yeah! I see the resemblance now!" Chat Noir nodded. "But who is she?"

"I think her name's Aurore, she's one of the two finalists in the Kidz + TV weathergirl competition." I explained. "I didn't see the results, but I'm guessing that Aurore didn't win"

"Yeah, losing a big competition on live TV could have made her angry enough to draw Hawkmoth's attention." Chat Noir nodded at me.

"The akuma must be in her parasol' Ladybug deduced.

"Then we've gotta get it away from her" I said as the three of us ran deeper into the building.

We reached the recording studio just as Stormy Weather was wrapping up her broadcast. "In Stormy Weather's world, it's winter wonderland, forever!" She declared as we took our positions outside the door. At Ladybug's signal, we charged and burst into the studio, only to find it devoid of people. A high-pitched giggle came from a television on the stage with a camera in front of it.

"It's a recording!" Ladybug realized.

"She _did_ set us up!" I growled.

"I sure did!" We turned to see the real Stormy Weather cackling near another door. She raised her parasol and blasted lightning towards the grid of studio lights, causing three of them to break off and fall towards us.

Yelping, the three of us dodged the falling lights, but scarcely had we done so when the lights in the room suddenly went out, leaving us in total darkness.

I narrowed my eyes, trying to see through the darkness, and suddenly the room lit up in a greenish tinge and I found I could see clearly. I smirked as I realized I had somehow developed night vision in my mask.

Hearing Stormy Weather cackling, I turned to see her dark through the doorway.

"Frosty the Snowgirl's getting away!" I yelled, starting to give chase, but paused when I heard a yelp from Ladybug and turned to see that my partner had tripped over one of the broken lights.

"Do I detect a damsel in distress?" Chat Noir appeared at Ladybug's side.

"Some of us don't have night vision" Ladybug grumbled as I resumed my chase of Stormy Weather, confident that Ladybug was safe with Chat Noir. I raced out into the hallway to see a door at the far end open, and then close. Growling, I raced towards the door and burst through it, finding myself in a stairwell. Stormy Weather's cackling echoed from above me.

"Ermine!" I turned to see Chat Noir running towards me, pulling a blind Ladybug behind him.

"I think Stormy Weather's heading for the roof!" I said.

"Lead the way!" Chat Noir nodded and we began to climb the steps, but Ladybug kept tripping on the steps and

"Okay, that's enough! I think I can…" Ladybug started to say.

"Duck!" Chat Noir yelped and I looked up to see what looked like a fire extinguisher come flying at us. Chat Noir and I dodged it easily, and I saw Ladybug cringe as she heard the extinguisher crash to the floor right next to her.

"…follow you guy's lead on this one" she finished.

"Come on!" I yelled and began racing up the steps once again with my partners right behind me. We reached a door at the top of the stairs and burst through it, finding ourselves on the roof of the building.

Stormy weather cackled as she floated above us. "You airheads! You fell right into my trap!" She yelled before snapping her parasol open.

As we watched, a funnel of dark clouds began to appear around the roof of the building, surrounding us in a vortex of howling wind that made escape off the roof impossible.

"There's no way out! Party's over, fools!" Stormy Weather taunted us.

"We're just…" I heard ladybug start to say, but when she paused, I looked to see that she had noticed Chat Noir still holding her hand. She shot him a look and he released her, rubbing his head sheepishly. I sighed and shook my head. Por Chat Noir, he just didn't seem to get the hint.

"We're just getting started, Stormy! LUCKY CHARM!" Ladybug yelled, throwing her yo-yo up into the air. It spun on its string, releasing a cloud of ladybugs that swirled together to form…a red-and-black bath towel?

"A bath towel?" Ladybug's surprise mirrored my own as she caught it. "What am I supposed to do with this?"

"Let me try!" I told them before stepping forward. "ANIMOPRHIX!" I yelled, calling on my own superpower. My belt glowed and a bright light covered me from head to toe. I felt my body shifting, growing larger, and stronger. When the light faded, I had transformed into a large white bear which threw back its head and roared at the darkened sky above.

"A bath towel and a bear?" Chat Noir said as I fell back on my four paws. "Great, so we're about to be obliterated, but at least we'll be both warm and dry" I growled at the sarcasm in his voice, causing him to wince.

"Just hold your whiskers" Ladybug's tone indicated she was not impressed with his witt either as she wrapped the towel around her wrist.

Above us, Stormy Weather raised her parasol towards the sky. "This just in! I'm issuing a sudden hailstorm alert!" She crowed.

My bear eyes widened as large chunks of hail began falling from the clouds above. I saw Chat Noir pull Ladybug to him, extend his stick, and began twirling it like a bo staff, creating a shield from the falling chunks of ice to protect himself and Ladybug, but I was too big to fit under there.

I let out a roar as the hail slammed into my bear body. I could feel it, but it didn't hurt as much as I was expecting. I also didn't feel the cold at all. Maybe it was due to the bear's thick fur and fat.

"Ermine, are you alright?" Ladybug called from under Chat Noir's 'shield'.

"Yeah, I'm fine." I had to yell over the sound of the hail as I turned to face them. "I can feel the hail, but it doesn't seem to be hurting me too bad, at least not yet"

"That's a relief" Ladybug smiled at me.

"So what's the plan for getting the akuma?" Chat Noir yelled. "My arm's starting to get a cramp!"

Ladybug began looking around. After a minute she smiled and pointed to one of the large billboards that towered over us. "See that sign over there? Check it out!"

"All right!" Chat Noir stopped twirling his staff and I leaned over Ladybug to shield her from the hail. "CATACLYSM!" Chat Noir called on his superpower, his right hand became charged with destructive energy.

"Hey Coldilocks! That all you got?" Chat Noir taunted as he rushed forward. Stormy Weather growled from her aerial perch and began blasting him with lighting. My heart skipped a beat as Chat Noir narrowly dodged bolt after bolt of electric energy.

"Ptt, Ermine!" I blinked as Ladybug's hand suddenly waved in front of my nose. I looked down at her.

"When Chat Noir uses his powers on that sign, I need you to pull it down towards us. Okay?" She said.

I blinked, not quite sure what Ladybug was planning, but I nodded and began running towards the sign. Chat Noir, while still dodging the lightning bolts, reached the sign and slid along it, rubbing his hand along the supports that held the sign up. Upon contact with his hand, the supports rusted, groaning as they snapped under the billboard's weight. The board began to tilt towards the street below. As Chat Noir slid past me, I reached out and grabbed the edge of the billboard with my paws, my bear claws sinking into the metal. With a roar, I pulled backwards with all my strength, causing the billboard to tip and fall backwards.

I heard Stormy Weather gasp as the billboard fell towards her and glanced up to see the villain blast a hole in the billboard with her parasol. While she was distracted however, Ladybug used her yo-yo to lasso Stormy Weather's ankle. Stormy weather shot through the hole she had created, causing the billboard to miss her and fall onto a vent, which broke under the weight, revealing an HVAC fan.

Ladybug, meanwhile, had ducked under a pipe, pushed off from a crane, and leapt up into the structure holding the fan. Unfurling the bath towel, she used it like a wing to soar upwards on the fan's air current. Due to the force of the fan, Ladybug's yo-yo line ended up pulling Stormy Weather down as Ladybug flew up. The villain cried out in surprise as she was pulled downwards, before the crane, which had started to move after Ladybug had pushed off it, slammed into her, causing her to let go of her parasol.

"'Ermine, boost me!" Chat Noir yelled as he leapt towards me. Realizing what he intended, I put my paws together as best I could. Chat Noir stepped onto them and I flung him upwards. He grabbed Stormy Weather's parasol in mid-air and threw it towards Ladybug. Releasing her towel, Ladybug grabbed the Parasol and dropped down to the roof just as Stormy Weather crashed into it.

"Get out of here, you nasty little bug!" Ladybug ordered as she broke the parasol on her knee. Sure enough, an akuma flew out of it.

"No more evildoing for you, little akuma" Ladybug chanted as she activated the capture feature on her yo-yo and swung it around to build up momentum. "Time to De-Evilize!" She threw her yo-yo at the akuma, the device opened up and captured the evil being before returning to Ladybug.

"Gotcha! Bye bye, little butterfly" She opened yo-yo, allowing a pure white butterfly to fly out and disappear into the sky.

"MIRACULOUS LADYBUGS!" Ladybug threw her bath towel into the air, releasing the swarm of ladybugs that served as her second power. The swarm flew through the city, repairing any damage caused by our battle with Stormy Weather. Overturned vehicles were righted, shattered windows and screens were repaired, and the swarm's final act was to shoot up into the sky and dispel the dark clouds and snow that had been covering all of Paris.

I sighed happily as I watched the ladybugs work. This was the power I liked the best, the power to fix any problem instantly.

Suddenly, a bright white light lit up my body, making me shut my eyes. When the light cleared, I was human again.

As I rushed over to my partners, I saw Stormy Weather revert back to Aurore, who looked around, confused.

"Uh, what am I doing up here?" She demanded, her hands on her hips.

Ignoring her, I did a three-way fist bump with my partners. "Pound It!" We chanted happily.

"Is she gonna be okay?" I asked, glancing at Aurore, who had noticed up by now and was gaping at us with a look of amazement on her face.

"She'll be fine" Ladybug assured me.

"Good, because I actually have somewhere I need to be right now" I said.

"Same here" Chat Noir said "See you later, M'ladies" He gave Ladybug a dramatic bow, winked at me, then ran to the edge of the building and jumped off.

"Is he going to use that phrase every single time he sees us?" Ladybug groaned, but I could see her smiling.

"Probably" I chuckled as I unsnapped my whip, the colorful trail flowing through the air as I lashed it twice. "See you around?" I winked at Ladybug.

"See you around" Ladybug smiled as I followed Chat Noir's lead, racing to the edge of the building and jumping off. As I fell towards the ground below, I whirled my whip through the air and, when I was close enough, lashed it towards another building. The whip held and I used it to swing my way across buildings back towards the park.

I landed behind the same copse of trees I had transformed behind and transformed back.

"Well, that went well" I smiled as Minkk stretched.

"Yeah" I peered out at the fountain. I saw Vince and Adrien's bodyguard looking around, but there was no sign of Adrien himself.

_Hmmm, I wonder where Adrien is_, I wondered as I stepped out from behind the trees and headed towards the fountain.

"Miss Alice!" Vince cried out happily when he spotted me. "You are unhurt?"

"I'm fine Vince, thanks for asking" I replied, shooting him a disarming smile before looking around. "Where's Adrien?"

"I do not know" Vince said, looking around again. "He disappeared after you did"

"Really?" I raised an eyebrow, surprised that Adrien hadn't come out of hiding before I had gotten back. "Huh, I wonder where he could…"

"Alice!" I suddenly felt a pair of arms wrap around my waist. I turned to see a worried Adrien standing behind me. "Where were you? I've been looking all over for you!" He exclaimed as he hugged me.

I gave Adrien a smile when we broke apart. "I'm sorry Adrien, I ducked into the nearest building I could find and hid there. I was going to call you, but I couldn't get a signal on my phone" I lied smoothy.

"Oh" Adrien blinked for a second, then smiled back at me. "Well, as long as you're okay. I was really worried about you"

I giggled. "Oh Adrien, you don't have to worry about me. I've got enough common sense to know to stay _away_ from super villains" _At least while I'm like this_, I added mentally.

Adrien chuckled. "Yeah, we'd better leave that to the heroes. I'm sure Ladybug, Chat Noir, and Ermine wouldn't want us getting in their way anyway"

I giggled again "Yeah, probably not. I doubt we'd make very good heroes anyway, we'd be too busy trying to protect our beautiful faces" I said sarcastically, pointing to the baby-doll expression on my face.

"Very funny" Adrien snorted with amusement.

"Can I have a lollipop? Can I? Can I? Can I?" The two of us looked up to see Marinette, Manon, and Alya walking towards us.

"Not just yet, Manon, I want to watch our friends first, okay" Marinette said gently to Manon, causing me to smile. Marinette may be a pushover, but she did have a way with kids.

"You guys mind if we watch?" Alya called over to us.

"Not at all!" I replied back.

"Yeah, we don't…"

"Wait!" Vincent suddenly cut Adrien off. "Who is that…that angel?" He asked, pointing to Manon, who looked around, until she realized Vincent was talking about her.

_Oh no,_ I thought, cracking a small smile as Manon's face lit up. _Don't tell me Vincent wants to put **her** in the photoshoot!_

But he did. After obtaining permission from Marinette, Vincent lead Manon up to where the two of us were standing and the photo shoot began again, but with Manon as the centerpiece this time. The two of us took turns throwing Manon up into the air, we kissed her cheeks at the same time, making her giggle happily, and we took a family-style photo where I was holding Manon while Adrien was holding me.

As Vincent happily leapt around, taking pictures of us, I caught Marinette watching with a sad smile on her face, then her gaze slowly fell until she was staring at the ground. Alya patted Marinette on the shoulder in a supportive way. When she saw me looking, she raised an eyebrow at me and I responded by shrugging my shoulders and shooting her a sheepish grin.

Soon, we had to call it a day due to Adrien's schedule.

"Thank again for agreeing to this, Alice" Adrien said as his bodyguard left to bring the car around. "I had a great time."

"Me too" I admitted. "More than I expected, actually"

Adrien's face lit up. "So, does that mean you'll..."

I laughed and shook my head. "Alright fine, tell your father if he needs someone to model with you, I'll...consider it" I said.

"Thank you, Alice!" I suddenly found myself enveloped in a hug, which caused me to giggle.

"Okay, okay! Take it easy!" I said as Adrien let go of me. "Geez, the way you're acting, you'd think I was agreeing to be your girlfriend"

Adrien chucked. "No, I'd never do that to you Alice. You're like a sister to me. I'm just really happy that we're gonna have a lot more chances to hang out in the future. You have no idea how lonely it gets for me at home sometimes"

I looked up into Adrien's eyes and saw genuine sadness in them, which motivated me to take his hand in my own and gently stroke his cheek with my other hand.

"Don't worry Adrien, you have lots of friends now. Me, Marinette, Alya, even Manon" We both let out a chuckle at this before I continued. "You won't have to feel alone anymore, I promise"

I saw relief flood both Adrien's eyes and his face and he smiled at me before the sounding of a car horn announced that Adrien's bodyguard was back. Adrien gave me one last smile and then, before I could react, raised my hand to his lips, and kissed it.

My eyes widened in surprise as Adrien let go, winked at me, and then rushed off towards the waiting car, waving as he ran.

"Wow! What was that?" I heard Aly exclaim as I watched Adrien's car drive away.

"I...have no idea" I stammered as I slowly turned to face Alya and Marinette, dreading what I would see.

Sure enough, there was a frown on Marinette's face. Quickly, I apologized for everything that had happened. To my surprise, Marinette's frown soon faded and she told me not to worry about it. "You've known Adrien for a long time, and you're someone he's known for a long time. It makes sense you two would be good friends" She said simply.

I felt relief surge through me as Alya winked at me behind Marinette's back. I shot her a grateful look, relieved that the girl had been able to help smooth things out.

We were suddenly interrupted when Manon walked up to me. "Who are you?" She asked, looking up at me with curious eyes.

"You mean you don't know her?" Alya asked, sounding somewhat surprised.

"No" Manon turned to look at her, confused. Then her eyes lit up. "Wait! Is she another unicorn?" she asked, looking from Alya to me.

"A w-a what?" I giggled mid-sentence, looking at Alya, who looked a little embarrassed.

"I…may or may not have told Manon that I was a mythical, wish-granting unicorn from Respa, disguised as a human gi-whaa?" Ala started to explain, but was cut off when I quickly pressed a finger to her lips.

"Alya, what are you doing?" I said, pretending to lower my voice but making it so that Manon could hear me. "You can't go around telling _our secret_ to human girls. You're gonna get all _three_ of us in trouble!"

I chuckled at the confused look on Alya's face and winked at her and Marinette. Their confusion faded as they both caught on to my game.

"Three?" I looked down to see Manon looking up at me with wide eyes. "All three of you are Unicorns?"

I gave a fake gasp of horror and leapt back. "Oh no, she heard me!" I exclaimed dramatically. "She'll tell all her friends and we'll have to grant wishes for _all_ of them!"

"Oh this is just terrible! What can we do to protect ourselves?" Marinette cried out in pretend horror, but her eyes glimmered with amusement.

"There is only one thing we _can_ do, ladies" Alya pretended to look angry, but the corners of her mouth curved upwards.

"Wha-what're you gonna do?" Manon took a step backwards, looking nervous as all three of us turned towards her.

"We're gonna have to _tickle_ her until she forgets what she overheard!" Alya exclaimed with a wicked grin.

Manon's eyed widened as the three of us closed in on her. "No! No, don't tickle me!" She bolted towards the fountain.

"Get her Unicorns!" I cried and the three of us pounced on Manon, tickling her until she cried with laughter, making the rest of us laugh as well.

"All right, as fun as this is, I need to take Manon home. Her mother will be coming by soon" Marinette said after a few minutes.

"No! I wanna play with Alice some more!" Manon protested, grabbing my arm.

"We'll play again sweetheart" I said soothingly, gently pulling myself away from Manon. "Real soon, you'll see"

"You promise?" Manon looked up at me with baby doll eyes, making me chuckle.

"I promise, and a unicorn always keeps her promises" I said sincerely before making a dramatic bow that caused Manon and the other girls to laugh.

After Marinette and Manon had left, Alya and I walked to the bus stop before she left me there too. As I got on the bus, I noticed several people gazing at me with wide eyes, but who looked away when they saw me looking back.

Frowning in confusion, I sat down and ignored the stares as best I could, but it was hard, especially when I hears two people across the aisle muttering to each other and I distinctly heard my name mentioned.

I snorted. _Maybe they're just surprised that the daughter of the Style Queen would take a common bus_ around, I thought to myself, before chucking at my phrasing. Even when I was trying to avoid acting like my mother, pieces of her still managed to surface from time to time.

I kept feeling eyes on me for the entire bus ride, and even outside as well, when the bus stopped to let people on and off. By the time I finally got off in front of the hotel, I was feeling rather annoyed as to why everyone was looking at me. But that question was answered the moment I reached the top floor.

"HOW DARE YOU!" I winced at my sister's volume as Chloe stomped up to me, looking positively livid. Sabrina trialed behind her, looking angry.

"Chloe, what are you talking abo...?" I started to say, but Chloe cut me off.

"DON'T GIVE ME THAT!" Chloe screamed in my face. "You think you're _so clever_ don't you? Setting up a photoshoot with you and Adrien behind my back!"

_Oh_, realization suddenly hit me. Chloe must have found out about the photo shoot.

"Okay Chloe, first of all, I didn't set that up, Adrien did. And secondly..." I started to explain, but Chloe cut me off.

"Don't you _dare_ pin this on Adrien!" Chloe snarled, pushing me back against the wall. "Adrien would never choose another person to replace _me_ as his queen!"

"Queen?" I blinked in surprise "What are you talking about?"

"She's talking about _this_" Sabrina stepped forward, holding out her phone so I could see what was on the screen.

My eyes widened. Displayed on the screen was what appeared to be a blog site, and splashed across the top, in big bold letters, was the title **The New Power Couple of Paris?**

Directly below that were two pictures of me and Adrien displayed side-by-side. One with me caressing Adrien's cheek, the other of Adrien kissing my hand. From the way the photos had been presented, it was clear that the author was portraying these gestures as romantic.

"Oh no" I muttered as I read the text of the article, which described our photoshoot as the 'affectionate re-kindling of a childhood romance' between Adrien and me. No wonder Chloe was mad!

"So, what do you have to say _now?_" Chloe said triumphantly.

I looked up at her as she grinned smugly at me, and smiled at her. "Whoever wrote this is lying" I said simply.

"What do you mean?" Sabrina asked.

"There is nothing romantic between me and Adrien." I said as I pried myself out of my sister's grip. "I do love him, but like a brother, not as a boyfriend"

Chloe snorted. "You expect me to believe _that_?"

"Believe what you want Chloe" I frowned, growing tired of this. "Now, if you'll excuse me" I made to go to my room, but Chloe grabbed my arm.

"Oh no! We're not done here!" She said, looking angry again.

Now _I_ was getting angry. "Yes Chloe, we are" I said firmly, pulling my arm out of her hand. "I've already told you the truth about me and Adrien. If you're too thick-headed to realize it, that's not my problem"

"Thick-headed?" Chloe and Sabrina gasped, Sabrina in fear, Chloe in anger. "Why you little...!"

"Girls! What is going on here?" A voice made us look up to see my father, the mayor of Paris, coming out of the elevator.

"Dad! You're home early!" I exclaimed in surprise.

"Yes, I was just..."

"Daddy! Alice is trying to come between me and Adrien!" Chloe whined.

My father looked confused. "What are you talking about, my dear?"

"Show him Sabrina!" Chloe ordered, keeping a firm grip on my sleeve as Sabrina stepped forward and showed my father the article.

As my father read the article, I saw a frown cross his face.

"Dad! That article's nothing but rubbish! I swear there's nothing romantic between me and Adrien Agreste!"

"She's lying, daddy! She practically just admitted that she loves him! And...and she called me thick-headed!" Chloe whined.

"That's because you are!" I snapped, whipping my head around to look at her. "I _told_ you the truth, but you're too stubborn to see it!"

"Daddy! Did you hear what she just..!"

"Girls! That is enough!" My father's tone made us stop talking. He handed Sabrina back her phone before advancing on us. "Alice, calling your sister that was unnecessary" He scolded me before turning to Chloe. "Chloe, I believe that Alice is telling the truth"

"What?" Chloe exclaimed.

"I was just speaking to Mr. Agreste before I left the office, he said Adrien told him something very similar to what Alice said when he found out about the article." My father said. "Which brings me to another point" He turned back to me. "Alice, Adrien says that you would be willing to partner with him on his future photo shoots, is that correct?"

Ignoring Chloe's angry sputtering, I nodded. "Yes, I _was_ considering it, as long as it did not interfere with my schoolwork or hanging out with my other friends. Is that okay with you?"

My father shook his head, a satisfied smile on his face. "I see no problem with it. I will inform Mr. Agreste to begin working out a shooting schedule for you, alright?"

I felt a wide smile cross my face while Chloe gasped like a drowning fish.

"Thanks dad" I exclaimed happily.

"This is ridiculous! Utterly Ridiculous!" Chloe yelled before storming off to her bedroom, Sabrina trailing behind her, and slamming the door shut.

"Is...she going to be okay?" I asked, looing at my father, who sighed.

"Yes. Unfortunately, she does this somewhat often. But she will be alright" My father said before giving me a smile. "Congratulations Alice. I always had a feeling modeling was in your future"

I snorted. "Dad, this is not a career. It's like a extra-curricular activity, if anything."

My father didn't answer, he just smiled at me before patting my shoulder as he moved past me down the corridor.

Feeling somewhat overwhelmed, I headed to my own room. Once inside, I leaned against the door and groaned.

"Wow, it looks like you overcame one storm, only to encounter another one" Minkk giggled as she came out of hiding.

"Are you talking about my sister, or that article of me and Adrien?" I asked, wandering over to my bed and plopping myself down into it. "Anyone who reads that is going to think we're dating!"

"And that would be bad because...?" As Minkk's tone, I rolled over and looked up at my kwami, who was helping herself to some chocolate candy that I kept in a bowl on my desk.

"Minkk, any feelings I have towards Adrien are...sisterly, at best!" I said. "He's like the brother I never had. _Why_ is that so hard for everyone to understand?"

Minkk giggled. "Oh I understand _that_, but what I don't understand is _why_ you're making such a big deal out of this! I mean, This Adrien boy is cute, I will admit, but it's not like you'd let him 'wear you around your neck, unlike _another_ blonde we know!" Minkk giggled as my face turned beet red.

I groaned, rolled over again, and buried my face in my pillow, but I couldn't stop the big smile from crossing my face.

* * *

**And Cut!**

**I've had this chapter near completion for some time now, and decided that now would be a good time to try to finish it. Here it is, and I'm quite pleased with how it turned out! **

**Like I've mentioned, this story will be published chapter-by-chapter mainly on a response basis, if you want more chapters out faster, then respond, respond, respond! **

**Until Next Time! **


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